The Theory of Objectivity
by Musickat18
Summary: Things had been going so well...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:**** I own none of these characters. They are the property of the creators of _The Big Bang Theory_.**

**A/N: This is the result of a combination of conversation in Fan Forum and a shock I received yesterday. Writing can be cathartic.**

**Prologue**

This was it. In less than ten seconds, Howard Wolowitz was going to have a controlled explosion propelling him in to space.

Amy's eyes were riveted on the screen in front of her. She heard the sounds of her friends making comments to one another, but it seemed distant to her ears. She was too busy staring at the screen and hoping for Howard's safety.

But then something shocking happened. Amy felt Sheldon grab her hand. She felt her breath catch and could only look over at him in shock. She briefly considered saying something, but Sheldon was staring straight at the television and Amy did not wish to draw attention in such a way as to induce him to let go. Instead she looked back at the screen just in time to see the rocket take flight, carrying Howard Wolowitz with it into space. The moment had felt almost magical…

* * *

The following morning Amy woke up to her alarm buzzing. Another Monday. She knew that many people, and one fictionalized orange cat who frequented the Sunday morning comics, hated Mondays, but as Amy quite enjoyed her work, she actually looked forward to Mondays with enthusiasm.

After shutting off her alarm, Amy grabbed her glasses, threw off the covers, and got up. She smiled when her phone buzzed, indicating that she had a text message. That would be Sheldon. They frequently started their daily communications early in the morning.

_Good Morning. I hope your REM cycles were completed to your satisfaction. I have something I wish to discuss with you. Are you free to meet this evening?_

Amy smiled. No doubt this was related to Sheldon's grabbing her hand. She was still very excited about that. Her experiments seemed to be working…Not that she had thought they wouldn't. It would seem that she was nearly done with phase one, as she had gotten Sheldon to initiate contact.

She quickly typed out her reply.

_Good Morning. My REM cycles were indeed satisfactorily completed. I hope yours were the same. I am free this evening. Where shall we meet?_

Amy grabbed the clothes she needed to take with her into the bathroom. As she set them down on the countertop, her phone buzzed again.

_I believe my apartment will suffice. Leonard will be spending the evening at work. Shall we agree to meet at 7:30?_

Amy typed out_ 7:30 will be fine._

Setting her phone down, she went about her daily ablutions.

As she showered, she happily relived Sheldon's impromptu hand hold, and began postulating the positive effect it would have on advancing their relationship.

Of course, once they had finished watching Howard's launch, Sheldon had let go of her hand and had made no mention of it the rest of the evening. She had resisted the urge to speak with him about it, given that all of their friends (sans Howard of course) were present and she had instinctively known that pointing out something as momentous as a hand hold from Sheldon would have drawn unwanted attention to him.

But she had no doubt that the hand hold had been the result of her experimentation to increase his feelings for her. While she didn't know what his intentions were for their discussion this evening, she suspected he was going to try to find a way to excuse his behavior.

Amy smiled as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair. Well, she wasn't going to let him get away with it. She knew it was the result of his increased feelings and she wasn't going to let him say otherwise. She was a patient woman, but she would flat refuse to let Sheldon backtrack. Any successful relationship had to move forward, and, regardless of the snail's pace it may take, Amy was determined theirs would move forward, as well.

Amy was confident regarding Sheldon's feelings for her, and indeed he had made no move to deny them. Of course, they rarely discussed their feelings, as Sheldon generally regarded feelings as something to be suppressed and controlled, but she knew he had them and that it was simply a matter of putting him into enough situations so as to get him to openly admit that what he felt for her was romantic.

As Amy wrapped a towel around herself and used another towel to start drying her hair, she smiled.

_I have him just where I want him._

* * *

Amy's work day went like any other. It was, over all, very productive, with a scattering of texts, tweets, and emails from Sheldon in between.

After a rushed dinner, and brush run through her hair, Amy drove over to Sheldon's, nervous, and yet excited, about the upcoming conversation. Never in her life had she met someone with such wit as Sheldon. She found all their conversations stimulating.

Amy walked up the stairs with a smile on her face. When she reached Sheldon's door, her smile turned into a toothy grin. She knocked and then waited for Sheldon to answer.

Sheldon opened the door, nodding at her once. "Hello."

"Hello," Amy said, happily. At his indication, she walked through the door, taking her purse off over her head and setting it down next to Sheldon's desk.

"Would you care for a beverage?" Sheldon asked.

"I believe bottled water would be nice," Amy replied.

"Please have a seat," Sheldon said, as he walked over to the kitchen to grab her water.

Amy walked over and sat in the middle cushion of the couch, next to Sheldon's spot. Sheldon returned with Amy's water bottle, handing it to her, and sitting down beside her in his spot.

"How was the rest of your afternoon?" he asked.

"It was uneventful. And yourself? Were you able to find the neutrino you were missing?"

Sheldon sighed. "Unfortunately, no. It still eludes me." He turned more fully towards her. "But that is not what I wish to discuss this evening."

Amy nodded. "Of course. I admit I'm rather interested in what you have to say."

Sheldon cleared his throat. "As you know, yesterday I suffered from a lapse in judgment, rashly grabbing your hand in a moment of panic, induced by the imminent departure of Howard Wolowitz from this earth."

Amy smiled toothily again.

Sheldon frowned in response. "I have been unable to stop thinking about the event ever since it occurred."

Amy's smiled broadened. "As have I."

"I don't like it," Sheldon said. "It is the result of your experiment and I would like you to stop."

_Aha_, thought Amy. _Blame shifting. Classic Sheldon._

She sat up straighter. "Sheldon, you were aware of my experiment from the get go. I made no move to hide it from you. But all I did was attempt to increase your feelings for me. Any other physical manifestation which resulted was purely from you."

Sheldon nodded. "I quite agree."

Amy blinked, shocked. "You do?"

"Yes. Your experiment is working well. My feelings for you have indeed increased, and as a result, I felt the urge to grab your hand in my time of need."

Amy frowned. "And yet you would like me to stop?"

Sheldon nodded again. "Amy, I am a man of science. My life's pursuit has always been a Nobel Prize. The results of your experiment are resulting in a divided focus."

Amy cocked her head to the side. "How so?"

"Several times now, as I have been attempting to concentrate on my work, I find myself thinking of you instead. I simply can't live like this."

Amy blinked at him and then frowned again. "What exactly are you proposing? We can't go backwards Sheldon. You admit that your feelings for me have increased. You can't decrease them."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows. "On the contrary, I believe if you were to cease your experimentation on my emotions then I would be able to adequately use Kohlinar to suppress my emotions, which would allow me to continue focusing on my quest for a Nobel Prize."

Amy felt as if she had swallowed a large rock. Simultaneously, she felt as if someone had blown a balloon up in her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe. "But why should you wish to do that?"

Sheldon glanced away. "This relationship is very beneficial for me on many levels. You provide a companionship which has been unmatched by any other person, including Leonard. I enjoy the intellectual challenge my relationship with you provides. This is why I have striven so hard to maintain said relationship. I find now, however, that the relationship is starting to negatively affect me."

Amy blinked. "Are you…breaking up with me?"

Sheldon gasped. "On the contrary! I have no desire to sever our relationship at all. I simply would like you to desist with your experiment as it is affecting me in a way I do not find desirable."

Amy frowned. "So…what about moving forward?"

"Why should we move forward? I believe we long ago achieved a comfort level with each other which makes this a mutually beneficial relationship. I'd say that, prior to your experiment, the relationship was about as perfect as it could get. I do enjoy the many things you do for me, of course, and would dearly love for you to continue to do things for me. But please, not at the cost of increasing my emotions to a point where I do something such as engage you in physical contact. It's simply not something I wish to do. I believe to do so would further divide my attentions from my work."

"But…you have so many other things which divide your attention. Fun with Flags. Video-gaming. Comic book reading. Why should our relationship be any different?"

Sheldon shook his head. "As much as I enjoy the aforementioned recreational activities, I have consistently been able to compartmentalize those areas of my life when my work needs my full attention. The only time I have been unable to do so is when my thoughts turn towards you."

Amy stared at Sheldon for several moments, in shock at the turn of the conversation. She had not been prepared for Sheldon's admonition that she had _succeeded_ at her experiment.

"I cannot go backwards in our relationship, Sheldon."

Sheldon held up a hand and shook his head. "That's because you haven't been able to master Kohlinar. I am more than willing to teach you so that you can then enjoy the full benefits of our relationship, without worrying about muddling it with things like physical contact. I think if you succeed you'll find your life enriched."

Amy shook her head, the rock in her stomach sinking lower and lower. "I do not wish to implement Kohlinar, Sheldon. I do not wish to suppress my feelings. I want to move forward…with you."

Sheldon blinked at her. "I don't want to move forward."

"You aren't the only person in this relationship."

"Amy, forgive me, but you knew what you were getting in to. You signed the Relationship Agreement. You know that physical contact is off the table. My momentary lapse yesterday does not make that clause null and void."

Amy frowned as a thought occurred to her. "If you were happy being simply friends, then why did you ask me to be your girlfriend in the first place?"

Sheldon looked surprised. "I should think that was obvious. I did not want you dating Stuart."

"But why should it matter to you whether or not I date Stuart, if you are uninterested in a romantic liaison with me in the first place?"

Sheldon blinked. "You were spending entirely too much time with Stuart. I found myself missing your companionship. And I was not entirely opposed to the idea that you would be connected to me as my girlfriend. It would keep you from dividing your time with other men, and I found I liked the idea. The only thing I do not enjoy is the negative effect it is now having on my work. I still care a great deal for you, Amy. I simply don't want to be ruled by those emotions."

"What about what I want?"

Sheldon shrugged. "I cannot help what you want. I can only tell you what interests me as far as our relationship goes."

Amy continued to stare at Sheldon, unsure how to respond. "So you don't care if I'm unhappy in the relationship?"

Sheldon blinked. "Of course I care. I don't want you to be unhappy. That is why I have made my offer to teach you Kohlinar."

Amy took a deep breath, considering her next words very carefully. "What if I'm not willing to go backwards with you?"

Sheldon frowned, looking confused. "We would not really be going backwards. We would simply be re-establishing the status quo in our relationship. Another relationship restore if you will."

"I…" Amy took a deep breath. "I can't do that, Sheldon. I don't want to restore our relationship. I want to move forward."

Sheldon blinked and stared at her for over a minute. "It would seem that we are at an impasse."

Amy blinked, starting to feel fear arise as a thought occurred to her. Sheldon was serious. He was not going to budge. He was completely unwilling to move forward.

If they had had this conversation a year ago, Amy might have been more willing to agree. In fact, she essentially had. But things had changed. Sheldon had awoken the woman inside her. She didn't just want a relationship of the mind anymore. She wanted to be his girlfriend, in all senses of the word. She was more than willing to go at a pace he was comfortable with, but she was not willing to go backwards…she _couldn't_ go backwards. To go backwards would be like trying to stuff sheets back into their original package; it simply wouldn't work.

Amy swallowed and felt her eyes start to prickle as she realized what she would have to do. She didn't want to do it.

She began trying to bargain with herself in her mind. Perhaps she should give in this time and then try again later. Sheldon had mentioned his feelings for her. Perhaps all he needed was time. Perhaps things were simply moving too quickly for him.

But it had taken her two years just to get where they were. Did she really want to wait that much longer to move forward again? She sighed inwardly as she realized the unfortunate answer to that question.

"Amy?"

She looked up to see Sheldon giving her a worried look.

She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry Sheldon, but that won't work for me. Are you entirely sure that you are unwilling to keep moving forward?"

Sheldon blinked. "Yes. I gave it a great deal of thought all last night and today."

Amy took a steadying breath, so as to try to control her tears. She did not wish to show more emotion than she had too.

"I see. In that case, I am terminating our relationship."

Sheldon tilted his head back in shock, his mouth popping open. "Terminating the relationship? You can't do that. You have to provide a three day written notice."

Amy took another deep breath. "In that case, expect my notice shortly."

Amy stood up and walked over to grab her purse. She glanced over at Sheldon, who was still staring at her with his mouth open. She garnered all her strength and nodded once to him.

"Good evening, Sheldon."

Amy walked out the door, closing it softly behind her and walked quickly to the door across the hall.

When Penny answered her knock, Amy simply said, "May I come in?"

Penny looked surprised. "Sure Ames. What's up?"

Amy sat down on Penny's couch, waiting until she had closed the door firmly behind her, and then burst into tears.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not sure Angst is my strong suit, but I found myself unable to write the quirky/funny/sweet stories today. This did indeed help. No worries, I and my family are fine. I simply learned that a former classmate is capable of horrific things and found myself shaken. Thanks for reading. :)**


	2. Opportunity

**A/N: Ask and you shall receive. This is the official "Chapter 1". The former 1 shot is now the Prologue. Be warned. This will be a bumpy, angsty road.**

_Three Months Later_

Sheldon was sitting at his desk typing, when the door suddenly opened, spilling unwanted guests into his living room. He rolled his eyes and continued typing, ignoring the guests.

"Hey, Sheldon," Leonard said. "Look who's back from space?"

Sheldon made no indication that he had heard Leonard. Instead he continued to work on his paper, using his carefully trained mind to attempt to block out the commotion around him.

It didn't work.

Despite Sheldon's desire to remain deaf to all going on around him, he could still hear the low voices of his former friends.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," said Howard.

Sheldon heard someone sigh. "Yeah," said Leonard. "You should have been here," Leonard lowered his voice even further, "when she first broke up with him."

Sheldon felt a physical pain in the middle of his chest, but ignored it. He had gone to see a physician the first couple of times it had happened, but the doctor insisted there was nothing physically wrong with his heart. When he had started spouting off nonsense about the effects emotions can have on the body, Sheldon had stopped listening, and had stopped going to the doctor for the pain.

"Yeah," whispered Penny. "It was worse than the twenty-five cats."

"How can it be worse than the twenty-five cats?" Howard asked. There was a pause. "And…can't he hear us? He's got Vulcan hearing."

"Yeah, we're pretty sure he can, but he doesn't usually respond. He said once, towards the beginning, that he decided speech was unnecessary most of the time. He'll only respond if he feels he has to."

"Are you serious? So the trick to getting Sheldon to shut up all this time was in the hands of Amy Farrah Fowler?"

"Howie!" hissed Bernadette. "Be nice. He's heart broken."

Sheldon rolled his eyes upwards again, but said nothing, continuing to type. Ridiculous. To be heartbroken would imply that he had felt romantic love for…her. And he had not.

"So…he really doesn't talk?" Howard said.

"Yeah, most of the time," said Leonard. "Watch this." Leonard raised his voice. "Sheldon, I hate trains."

Sheldon pressed his lips together but didn't answer. He refused to be their pawn. He refused to allow himself to be muddled by emotions. He was a man of science and it mattered not what other people felt about trains. All that mattered was the he, Sheldon, found them delightful.

"Wow…" said Howard. "I don't think I've ever seen him _not_ get on someone's case for saying they don't like trains…so he just never says anything?"

"Oh…you can get him to talk…." Leonard raised his voice again. "Sheldon, I'm going to watch _Babylon 5_."

Sheldon didn't look away from the screen, but replied, "No, you're not. And stop trying to instigate me. I don't appreciate it."

"Does he not play video games or go to the comic book store anymore?"

There was a pause and Sheldon narrowed his eyes at his screen, again feeling the pain in the center of his chest.

Sheldon heard Leonard clear his throat. "He, uh…does most of that still, just without talking to us…but, uh…he hasn't gone to the comic book store in a few weeks."

"Wow…really? Why not?"

There was another pause, this one longer. Sheldon continued typing as if he could not hear the conversation.

"Um…" Penny whispered, "Amy sort of…started dating Stuart."

Tired of listening to people talk about him as if he couldn't hear them, Sheldon suddenly shut his lap top, picked it up, and walked quickly from the room, ignoring the now throbbing pain in his chest.

* * *

Sheldon lay on his bed, with his knees curled to his chest, staring at his whiteboard. He had remained there for most of the evening, excepting the three minutes it had taken him to walk into the living room, grab his dinner, and return to eat it on his bed. He absent-mindedly stroked Zazzles The Second, the last remnant of Leonard's desperate attempts to get him to talk.

He had moved his white board into his bedroom shortly after…she…had left. He had found it easier to concentrate when he wasn't constantly being interrupted by people attempting to consol him.

He had needed no consolation. His heart had not been broken (as if that were even physically possible). He was nothing if not a logical man. He had spoken his thoughts on the matter of their relationship and…she…had reached the (il)logical conclusion that she could not be in a relationship solely of the mind. Therefore the result of her (il)logical conclusion had been to terminate the relationship.

Sheldon swallowed hard, blinking at his whiteboard. He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on clearing his mind and pushing down the rising emotions. He would not be able to focus properly if he did not adequately suppress all emotions.

Sheldon was now ashamed to admit he had let his emotions rule him in the first few days after the event occurred. He had had sleepless nights; foodless days…He had even abased himself several times by continually attempting to text, tweet, and email…her.

Sheldon took a slow breath in. He needed to stop thinking about that. This was all his former friends' fault. If they had not prattled on to Howard about the event, then he would not now be thinking of it.

Unbidden, the memory of the realization that…she…had unfriended him on Facebook came into his mind. He squeezed his eyes tighter, balling his fists at his side as he attempted to erase the memory from his mind.

Sheldon had always been proud of his eidetic memory, but in recent months, he had come to curse it. Initially he had, foolishly, thought he would be forever doomed to relive his moments with…her. But several weeks after the event, he had decided to expand his Kohlinar efforts into suppressing memories as well. He would simply not think about…her.

Several times, his former friend, known as Leonard, had called Sheldon's mother. She had come to visit twice, and twice had found the visit a waste of time. His mother had attempted all manner of things to get him to speak about the event, or, the second time, to speak at all, but none had worked.

Prior to his mother's first visit, Sheldon had come to the conclusion that the cost benefit to relationships wasn't to his liking. He had certainly found companionship delightful for a time, but if the risk of a relationship, be it friendship, "romantic", or any other type, was abandonment of said relationship by the other party, then Sheldon didn't see the need for them. And, as there was no need to maintain the relationship, Sheldon had seen no need to converse with those around him unless the occasion necessitated it.

He still needed Leonard to drive him places, so on occasion he would respond to a hello with a nod. And he still wanted to participate in stress-relieving exercises like videogame nights or new comic book night.

Sheldon inhaled sharply at the pain in his chest, and held his breath. He let the breath out slowly, attempting to rid his mind of the memory of his last trip to the comic book store. They had walked in to find the imbecile known as "Dale" at the counter. Sheldon had made note of it and moved on, not caring where Stuart was, as it would do little to affect his shopping experience. But as he had been in the process of paying for his merchandise, Stuart and…her…had walked through the door.

Sheldon had frozen, feeling the sharpest pain he had as yet felt in the middle of his chest. It had been the first time he had seen…her…since the day of the event. He had turned quickly back towards Dale, finished paying, grabbed his new comic books, and headed out the door, nodding once to…her…at her greeting on his way out.

Sheldon slowly unclenched his jaw and hands as he managed to push the memory away. He started reciting the periodic table, attempting to regain his focus on science. He refused to let his focus waiver, again.

* * *

Sheldon looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on his office door. Dr. Gablehauser walked in.

"Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon nodded once. "Dr. Gablehauser."

Dr. Gablehauser walked over to Sheldon's desk, looking around. "Why don't you have a chair in front of your desk?"

Sheldon blinked at the man. "Because that would indicate that I wished for people to sit down."

Dr. Gablehauser raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, instead clasping his hands in front of him. "Dr. Cooper, I wish to speak with you regarding your recent work for the University."

Sheldon didn't respond, waiting for whatever his supposed "superior" had to say regarding his work.

Dr. Gablehauser appeared to be waiting for Sheldon to respond before continuing, so Sheldon nodded his head once. His "superior" cleared his throat and said, "In recent months it has come to the attention of men higher than myself that some excellent work has been going on at this university of late, particularly by you."

Sheldon nodded again. Naturally. Now that all other distractions had been removed, Sheldon had been able to fully concentrate on his work. The only thing he found surprising about Dr. Gablehauser's statement was that others besides himself had finally recognized his efforts. Of course, in the beginning days after the event, before he had been able to regain his mental focus, his work had been subpar, but that was now over two months removed and ever since then, Sheldon had been making significant strides in his work.

Dr. Gablehauser continued. "We have been approached by the scientists at CERN with a request. There is a new project which requires the attention of someone capable of thinking outside the box, as it were."

Sheldon remained quiet, wishing Dr. Gablehauser would simply get to the point. When he did not continue, however, Sheldon decided to expedite the process by speaking up. "I see. And what is their request in particular?"

Dr. Gablehauser cleared his throat. "They would like you to join the project."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows in surprise, his mouth popping open. His "superior" continued. "Of course, it would take you out of the country for a significant amount of time, five to six months minimum, so I understand you will need time to think about it-"

"I'll do it," Sheldon interrupted. A chance to work with the scientists at CERN? This could be the opportunity he was waiting for. He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of living outside the country for an extended period of time, but this was entirely too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Sheldon sat up straighter, clasping his hands on his desk. "What do I need to do to prepare?"

Dr. Gablehauser raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "We will need for you to obtain the appropriate work visa. That process usually takes a significant amount of time, but given the notoriety it could bring to this university and, indeed, the country, and considering the enthusiasm of the scientists at CERN to have you aboard, I am sure we can speed up the process. In the mean time, I need you to make sure you have a current passport."

Sheldon nodded. "Of course. I shall start that process immediately." Sheldon paused, and then looked up at Dr. Gablehauser, clearing his throat. "This is a tremendous opportunity…and long over due." Sheldon paused again, carefully considering his next remark. "…Thank you."

The man looked shocked to receive a thank you from Sheldon. "Of course. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things to attend to."

After his "superior" left, Sheldon sat back slowly in his chair, letting the news sink in. Finally he was being recognized for his efforts. He frowned. It was about time.

Sheldon suddenly found himself with the overwhelming urge to contact…her. He squeezed his eyes shut, putting the heels of his hands over his eyes. It had been many weeks since he had last had an urge like that. Breaking that particular pattern of informing…her…of the goings on in his life had been particularly difficult. He had been making considerable strides, but it would seem that there was still work to be done.

He took his hands off his eyes and opened them. He didn't have time to waste. He would need to begin the process of preparing to leave the country for several months immediately. Sheldon opened his lap top and began typing away, anxiously hoping that the visa process could indeed be sped up.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. So here's the deal. I'm now writing 3 multi-chapter fics. I need a way to know where to focus my efforts, so I figure I'll let your enthusiasm guide me. And how will I guage your enthusiasm? By reviews. I'm sure this reads like a ploy for reviews, but it's really the only way I can think of to know what you want. (The same goes with my other fics.) I'm not going to leave any fic unfinished, but the rate of update for your favorite fic will be up to you.**

**P.S. To quote Leonard "I hate all of you and myself. Three." ;) :P**


	3. Moving On

**A/N: Your response to this fic is amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. :) For those worrying that the show would head this direction, all I have to say is "lord I hope not." I think I'd end up on anti-depressants...and Theophilus Rex, I'd recognize your ":) :) :) :) :)" anywhere. ;)**

* * *

Amy lay in bed, awake and blinking at the ceiling. She closed her eyes slowly and opened them equally slowly, trying to find her composure. The dream had felt so real…

She squinted over at the clock on her nightstand. 5:43 a.m. She sighed and grabbed her glasses, returning to stare at the ceiling in the early morning light. It was early for a Saturday, but she knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep.

She didn't remember the particulars of the dream, only that Sheldon was in it, and that she had been happy; they had been happy. The feeling had been so realistic that when she had initially awoken, she had reached for her phone in the hopes of finding a text from him. The feeling she had gotten in the pit of her stomach, when the realization had hit her that it had merely been a dream, had nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Amy frowned at the ceiling, now feeling guilty. She was dating Stuart, not Sheldon.

She thought back to the conversation she had had with Penny a month ago.

"_You know, Sweetie, maybe it would help if you got back into the game," Penny said, rubbing her hand up and down Amy's arm._

_Amy looked at Penny confused. "Game?"_

"_Yeah…you know…maybe try to date someone new."_

_Amy frowned. "How would my dating someone new help?"_

_Penny shrugged. "Sometimes it takes someone else to help take your mind off of your former boyfriend."_

"_Kind of like when Leonard started dating Priya?"_

_Penny pursed her lips together and nodded slowly. "Yeah…sure…I guess kind of like that..."_

_Amy thought for a moment. She wasn't sure she liked the idea. She pulled her knees up against her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and then rested her chin on them. "Do you think that if I date someone new, like Leonard did with Priya, that Sheldon and I could end up together again, like you did with Leonard?"_

_Penny's hand stopped moving on Amy's arm. "Oh…um…Sweetie, I don't know…that was different. We're different people. You…you can't start dating someone else hoping it'll lead back to Sheldon…"_

_Amy sighed. "I don't know, Penny. I don't really think dating someone new will help."_

"_Sure it will," Penny said brightly. "Take it from me. I've broken up with lots of people before. Moving on is the best way to…well…move on."_

_Amy turned her head to the side to look at Penny. "Moving on didn't work for you after you broke up with Leonard."_

_Penny cleared her throat. "Yeah…well…like I said…different people." Penny gave Amy a sympathetic look, and then spoke quietly. "Leonard's not Sheldon."_

Amy sighed. Penny had been right about that. Leonard was certainly not Sheldon. Leonard actually _wanted_ to move forward with Penny. Leonard had even _proposed_ to Penny in bed. Sheldon would never do something so rash…in fact, Sheldon would never be in bed with Amy.

Amy looked at her clock again, contemplating getting up…but she didn't want to get up because then the feeling would be well and truly gone…

She looked back at the ceiling. She had given Penny's suggestion that Amy "get back in the game" some thought, thinking that perhaps Penny knew more about such things than she did. This had been her first breakup after all…of course, she and Sheldon had had that one falling out, but that had been before they were (as Penny said) "official", and before Amy had grown so attached. He had merely been her boy/friend at that time.

Once Amy had decided to give dating another shot, the question had been who to date? She had not liked the idea of revisiting the dating website she had been using prior to meeting Sheldon.

After careful consideration of the matter, she had decided to attempt to date Stuart again. He was nice, and he had liked her enough to request a date with her in the first place. Amy had spent several days telling herself to pick up the phone and text Stuart, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to do it.

Then Amy had had Penny and Bernadette over for a girl's night. When they had found out that Amy was considering texting Stuart, they encouraged her to do it. Amy had remained reluctant, but after nearly half an hour of trying to convince her, Penny had picked up Amy's phone, typed out the message, and then had given it back to Amy with the order to "send it." Amy had held the phone in trembling hands, while her heart pounded anxiously. It had been Bernadette's hand on her back and soft, "You can do it, Amy," which had given Amy the strength to hit the send button.

Stuart had texted back that he would be delighted to go on another date with her. They had fixed the particulars via text, while Bernadette and Penny had celebrated Amy's step forward with Kalua and ice cream. Amy supposed she should have felt relieved, but really all she had felt was sad.

She had been nervous as she had prepared for the date, all the time thinking how strange it was to be going on a date which was not on a Thursday. Stuart had picked her up and they had head out on their date.

It had been half way through the date that Dale, who had been watching the store for Stuart, had called Stuart to say that there were now a group of people who wished to return items and he didn't know what to do. Stuart had apologized and had asked Amy if they could stop by the comic book store before their movie. Amy had agreed, hoping not to run into Sheldon.

But alas, she had. And he had been cold and distant, looking at her as if she were a near stranger and not someone with whom he had had a relationship with. He had not even said hello in response to her greeting; he had merely nodded once to her.

It had felt very much like a punch in the stomach. She had felt the urge to double over, and had even had problems taking a proper breath. She had nearly tried to end the date right there, but when Stuart had come back, he had handed Amy a bunch of daisies, saying he had forgotten them when he left the store before their date.

Amy had never received flowers before. She had looked from Stuart, to the flowers, and then back, and had made the decision to stick out the date. After all, she had had good reason to break up with Sheldon. This had been what she had wanted…

With that reminder on her mind, Amy threw off the covers and got out of bed, heading to the kitchen to get some cereal.

* * *

Leonard looked at Sheldon in shock. "What do you mean you're going to live in Switzerland for six months?"

Sheldon blinked at him, in that blank fashion he had perfected over the past couple of months. "I don't know what's confusing you about that statement. I have been given an opportunity to work with the scientists at CERN. I have taken it. And as such, I am doing you the courtesy of informing you of my impending absence."

Leonard couldn't believe his ears. Sure, he _knew_ that Sheldon had been working hard, but he hadn't realized that it would have led somewhere so quickly. And to get to work on the Large Hadron Collider…

Leonard frowned. "Where are you going to live?"

Sheldon blinked at him, maintaining his blank expression. "Switzerland."

Leonard rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered how Sheldon made it through life. "No…I mean, where are you going to live _in_ Switzerland? A house? An apartment?"

"Oh." Sheldon shrugged. "The particulars are not fixed, but my understanding is that I will be given accommodation at a local hotel. Not an ideal place to live for six months or longer, given the likelihood that it will not include a kitchen where I would be able to keep the necessities such as milk, but given that this is the sort of opportunity I have been waiting for all my life, I'm not going to split hairs."

Leonard stared at Sheldon. This was the longest conversation Leonard had had with Sheldon since Amy had broken up with him…he must really be excited…come to think of it, he must _really_ be excited if he had just said the phrase "I'm not going to split hairs."

Leonard smiled at Sheldon, reaching over to lightly pat him on the arm. "Well, good for you. I'm excited for you. It's a great opportunity."

Leonard thought he saw the corners of Sheldon's mouth curve upwards, but before he could be certain, the moment had passed. Maybe Switzerland would be a good thing for Sheldon…

Leonard had been really worried about Sheldon, especially in the beginning, following Amy's "termination" of their relationship. Leonard had seen Sheldon do some bat crap crazy stuff when things didn't go his way, but he had _never_ seen Sheldon turn practically mute. The man was known far and wide for making his opinions known. If Leonard was honest, it had really scared him.

To see him talking again, however temporary, and to see the ghost of a smile on his roommate's face made Leonard believe that perhaps Sheldon could recover from this after all. Perhaps all he really needed was to get away from the situation.

* * *

Penny walked with Bernadette to Amy's door and knocked. For the past two months, they had been meeting over at Amy's, or Howard and Bernadette's, home because Amy was too worried about bumping in to Sheldon at Penny's apartment. And to be honest, Penny didn't blame her.

Penny had been a part of some pretty bad breakups, but she had _never _seen two people so broken-hearted as Sheldon and Amy. It was almost unreal, especially given that the most they had ever done were a couple of kisses on the lips and one little hand hold.

But then, Penny supposed that had been the problem. Dr. Wack-a-doodle was too worried about his precious Nobel Prize to focus on the things that should matter to him.

But even after seeing what the breakup had done to Amy, Penny couldn't be angry with Sheldon. She had tried, but he had seemed so pitiful, in his own right, that she just ended up feeling helpless.

Several weeks ago she had suggested that Amy start dating again, and she had, but Penny was starting to wonder if it hadn't been such a great idea. Sometimes she forgot that Amy didn't have as good a grip on adult emotions as Penny expected her to. She had hoped that dating Stuart would have helped Amy get over Sheldon, but so far she hadn't really seen a difference in Amy. She still seemed pretty sad and mopey.

Amy opened the door.

"Hey Ames," Penny said, feigning a cheerfulness she didn't really feel.

"Hello Penny," she replied. She nodded towards Bernadette. "Bernadette."

Bernadette waved. "Hi."

Amy gestured for them to come inside, "Please, come in. Would either of you like an adult beverage? I have my friends Jack and Captain Morgan, or there's also a bottle of cooking sherry in my cupboard."

Lord. Penny made a mental note to help Amy stock her liquor cabinet. She cleared her throat. "Um, no, I'm good thanks."

"None for me either," chimed in Bernadette.

Amy shrugged and walked over to sit down on her couch, her shoulders hunching inward. Penny glanced at Bernadette, who shrugged her shoulders, also confused. It looked like today was one of Amy's bad days. Penny wondered what had brought it on this time.

She walked over to sit down next to Amy, putting an arm around her shoulders. "What's up, Sweetie? Why so blue? Stuart do something mean?" _Please let it be Stuart_, she thought to herself.

Amy sighed. "No. Stuart's still great."

Penny looked back at Bernadette, who walked over and sat on Amy's other side. "Then what is it?" Bernadette asked.

Amy started fidgeting with her fingers, not answering. She sank back into the couch, sighing again. "I had a dream I was still with Sheldon."

_Damn._ Penny looked back over at Bernadette, who gave a slight nod. It was going to be one of _those_ nights. They both leaned back on the couch.

"Why don't you tell us about it?" Penny said.

She sighed inwardly as Amy started talking. _It's going to be a long, painful night_.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Remember, enthusiasm breeds enthusiasm. :)**

**P.S. I'm a musician and therefore I love how the right song can speak to your emotions. I'm going to do a new thing (for me) with this fic. It's called "Amy's soundtrack". Because recently Amy has realized that no one understands her better than Diana Krall. It won't be every chapter, but on the ones that apply I'll let you know what which song to youtube (should you wish to). This isn't a song fic or anything, and I actually didn't even have these songs in mind when I started writing. It was just a happy accident. ;)**

**So this is your first song on "Amy's Soundtrack": _I Get Along Without You_ by Diana Krall**


	4. Irony

**A/N: Thanks as usual for the wonderful reviews. I started this thing which I call "Amy's Soundtrack". For further details, go back and see the end A/N of the previous chapter. It's just something quirky for those interested. Let's get to reading shall we? :)**

* * *

"Sheldon?"

Sheldon looked up from the comic books, currently spread out on his bed, to see Leonard standing in the doorway.

"Can I talk to you?"

Sheldon blinked. "I believe you already are."

Leonard paused and then shrugged. "Fair enough."

Sheldon looked back down at the comic books, trying to decide which fifty would be going with him to Switzerland.

He heard Leonard clear his throat. "So…um…the guys and Penny and Bernadette and I, we um, sort of wanted to throw you a going away party."

Sheldon looked up. Sometimes it was really difficult to get past Leonard's appalling grammar and syntax. He frowned at Leonard, in response to his proposal, and then looked back at his comic books.

"Yeah…" said Leonard. "I kind of figured you'd take it like that, but seriously, we think it would be nice. Nothing big, just us…and it wouldn't really be a party, it would just be us hanging out…maybe eating dinner…"

Sheldon looked up again. "How is that any different than what we do most nights?"

Leonard smiled at Sheldon, but when Sheldon frowned in response, his smile died. Sheldon didn't care for the idea of a going away party…even one which sounded more like a normal evening with a celebratory name attached to it.

"I guess it's not really," replied Leonard.

Sheldon blinked at Leonard and then returned, once again, to his comic books.

"So…can I tell Penny you said alright?"

Sheldon didn't answer, picking up two different Spiderman comic books and looking between them, trying to decide.

"Um…ok. I'll uh…just say we're on, then."

Sheldon put both of the comic books into the "take to Switzerland" pile. Sheldon heard Leonard walk away as he picked up another two comic books. In truth, it made no difference whatsoever to Sheldon whether or not his former friends chose to mark his leaving with celebration. All that mattered to Sheldon was that he was leaving.

_Eight days,_ he thought. It couldn't come soon enough as far as he was concerned.

* * *

Stuart and Amy walked slowly towards Amy's apartment, hand in hand. Amy's heart started pounding the closer they got.

_You've been dating Stuart for nearly three months now,_ she reminded herself. _It's time to let him kiss you._

They had been making slow progress in the physical part of their relationship, but had not yet gotten to kissing…

The first time Stuart had grabbed Amy's hand had been unexpected. They had been walking out of a crowded movie theater and he had grabbed her hand in order to pull her through the crowd, and then had simply not let go when they were free. At the time, Amy had felt a strange sense of guilt…which of course had been ridiculous.

Amy enjoyed her time with Stuart; he made for a very amiable companion. She found his self deprecating humor somewhat endearing, and over time she had even found their hand holding oddly comforting.

But she had not yet been able to bring herself to kiss him. After the first couple of failed attempts, Stuart had blatantly asked Amy if she really wanted to date him. She had simply explained that she was not used to moving so quickly, and requested his patience. Stuart had shrugged and told her it was alright.

And ever since then, Amy had been playing a strange game with herself. At the end of every date, she told herself she would lean forward and kiss Stuart on the lips, or perhaps let him kiss her on the lips instead of turning her face to the side. And every date for the past two months, she had failed.

Penny and Bernadette (especially Penny) had nearly choked on their beverages when Amy had admitted that she and Stuart had yet to kiss. Neither one of them had asked Amy why not, however, and Amy supposed it was because they knew the reason.

Amy was simply reluctant to move forward with Stuart. The irony of the situation was almost enough to make her laugh…almost. In a very strange way, she had begun to understand what it might have been like to be Sheldon in their relationship. Amy was happy with the way things were between her and Stuart. She enjoyed having a companion and holding his hand, but she really had no wish to move forward. She knew it was silly, but she somehow felt as if kissing Stuart would well and truly mean the end of her and Sheldon. It would mean that she had truly moved on. And, even after over five months, the idea still made her sad.

But Penny had, very kindly, pointed out that she and Sheldon _were_ over, and that she had Stuart now, and that it wasn't healthy to keep dwelling on the past. And so, Amy had doubled her emotional efforts to kiss Stuart on their next date.

And now here they were, approaching Amy's door. Amy's breath started coming a little quicker. They stopped just outside her door.

Amy cleared her throat. "Thank you for a lovely evening."

Stuart nodded. "Yeah, it was nice."

The both looked away and started fidgeting. Stuart cleared his throat. "So…um…I guess this is goodbye…for now."

Amy swallowed. "Ok. Yes. Um. Goodbye."

Stuart awkwardly leaned forward with his arms open in order to hug her. Amy complied, patting him on the back. When he pulled back, he stood there for a moment waiting, but Amy was frozen, with the phrase "_Just do it"_ playing over and over in her mind.

Stuart cleared his throat again. "Well, bye." He turned around to start walking away.

Amy closed her eyes and said, "Stuart, wait."

She opened them to see him turn around. Amy walked awkwardly forward until she was standing right in front of him. She started to lean forward slowly, her heart pounding and her breath coming quickly. She was approximately an inch away from Stuart's lips when she quickly moved her head to the side and kissed his cheek, instead.

She pulled back and simply said, "Sorry," before turning back around and walking into her apartment. She threw her purse down by the couch and sank down into it.

Amy could only think one thing. _Failed, again._

* * *

Sheldon stared at the card in his hand as the pain in the center of his chest returned with intensity. He had thought he had gotten rid of all those ridiculous Counter Factuals cards months ago, but it would seem one had managed to escape in between the pages of one of his comic books.

He closed his eyes and balled his hands together, crumpling up the card in the process. It was nothing. Just a stupid card from a stupid game he had made up with…her. He would not allow it to affect him. He worked on ridding his mind of the flood of memories which were currently attempting to torment him.

It wasn't working. Instead of feeling calm and unaffected, he started to feel angry. Angry that something as simple as an index card with a question written on it should cause his cool exterior to crumble; angry that his Kohlinar was failing him; angry at…her…that she should have such an effect on his emotions. It was all due to that ridiculous experiment she had conducted.

Five months it had been. _Five months_. And still he was struggling to maintain control over his emotions.

Sheldon opened his eyes and looked down at the card, frowning. He smoothed it back out, and then started ripping it up. He ripped it into even pieces, first in half, then in quarters, then eighths, and so on, until the pieces were too small to rip up further. Then, due to his now nearly overwhelming rage, he simply flung the pieces into the air, rather than throwing them into the trash can.

Sheldon turned towards his bed, getting angrier when he realized that it was covered in comic books, and he would not be able to fling himself onto it as he wished to. He gave serious consideration to simply sweeping his arms across the bed in order to rid it of the comic books.

He closed his eyes, once again attempting to calm himself down through logic and focus. He had spent the last hour organizing his comic books into "Take" and "Not take" piles. If he were to sweep his arms across, then that would be an hour wasted…and that's not to mention what possible damage would be done to the comic books; from bending of pages, to possible tearing even.

He felt himself calm down again; felt his control return; felt the pain in his chest start to lessen. When he had once again regained control, he opened his eyes and looked around. There were little pieces of index card all over.

He sighed and walked out to get the small hand broom to clean up the pieces with. For the second time that evening, he thought of how his impending trip to Switzerland couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

Penny was sitting on her couch painting her toenails when her cell phone rang. She put down the bottle of nail polish and picked up the phone, seeing that it was Amy. She tapped the button to answer and Amy's face filled her phone's screen.

"Hey, Ames."

"Hello, Penny."

Penny noticed Amy sounded mopey…again. Come to think of it, that was the only way Penny had heard Amy sound in five months. Penny put added a false brightness to her tone.

"What's up?"

Amy sighed. "I failed again."

Penny gave Amy a sympathetic look. "Oh, I'm sorry. What happened this time?" Although Penny knew what had happened. It was the same thing that always happened. Amy just wasn't ready to move on, even after _three months_ of dating someone else.

Amy shrugged. "I just couldn't do it. I got close this time…I kissed him on the cheek."

Penny raised her eyebrows. "Well, hey, that's something." It was certainly a step in the right direction. Even though Penny had never had as hard of a time moving on as Amy had, she still felt a good deal of sympathy for her.

Amy sighed again. "Yeah…I guess."

Penny looked at Amy, wondering if she should tell her about Sheldon. He was leaving in a little over a week. Initially she and Bernadette had decided not to tell Amy. The way they saw it, Amy never saw Sheldon anyway, so what did it matter if she knew he was leaving the country?

The problem was, Amy was still simply too hung up on him to move on with Stuart. Penny had said as much to Amy once, tossing in the idea that it was ok to not be ready, and that maybe Amy should just break up with Stuart, but Amy hadn't liked the idea. Penny could understand that as well. It wasn't easy being alone. Sometimes having any boyfriend, even one you didn't have romantic feelings for, was better than no boyfriend.

But maybe if Penny told Amy about Sheldon, she could really move on. Maybe she would feel better if she knew he was out of the country…also moving on.

Ok, so maybe he wasn't really moving on either, but Amy didn't need to know that.

Penny took a deep breath. "Amy…there's something I need to tell you."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Ok."

"Um…Sheldon's sort of…moving to Switzerland." _For six months_. It was a small omission, and Penny felt slightly guilty for it, but she thought the whole "moving on" thing would go better if Amy thought Sheldon was leaving for good.

Amy's eyes grew big. "He's moving to Switzerland? Why?"

Penny shrugged. "He got a really good job offer."

Amy seemed to space off for a minute, and Penny began to wonder if Plan A had actually been the better idea. Maybe it would've been better for Amy to not know Sheldon was leaving…

But then Amy seemed to come to, and when she responded there was a hardness to her voice which Penny hadn't heard before. "Well, good for him. It would seem that he is getting what he always wanted."

Penny stared in surprise at Amy's tone. "Um…yeah, I guess so."

They were silent for a few moments, Penny thinking about Amy's surprising venom. In the entire five months since Amy had broken up with Sheldon, Penny had never heard Amy sound angry with him. Maybe the shock is finally wearing off…wasn't anger one of the stages of grief, or something?

Amy spoke up again. "Well, I had better get going. Thank you for speaking with me."

"Sure," said Penny. "And hey, Sweetie?"

"Yeah."

"You'll kiss Stuart next time."

Amy didn't respond, except to nod once. "Good evening, Bestie…and…thanks for telling me about Sheldon."

Penny smiled. "Sure. That's what besties are for, right?"

The corners of Amy's lips turned upwards. "Right…well..bye."

"Bye."

Penny hit end on her phone, and went back to painting her nails with renewed hope for Amy's recovery.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think! :)**

**Amy's Soundtrack: _I'm Pulling Through_, by Diana Krall (dedicated to her bestie, Penny)**


	5. Relief

**A/N: Thanks as always for the reviews. I'm not one who likes to give away their story ahead of time, but I can sense your impatience, so I'm going to tell you 2 things. (1) The story ends happy and (2) S/A reconnect soon. But that's all you get! Hang in there. :)**

* * *

"Ok, Sweetie," Penny said. "Your flight's going to start boarding soon."

Sheldon looked over at Penny and Leonard. They had both insisted on coming with him to the airport despite his initial insistence that Leonard need only drop him off.

"Do you have everything?" Leonard asked.

Sheldon gave Leonard a condescending look. Of course he had everything. He had checked and rechecked his pre-flight check list five times prior to leaving the house. He had forgotten nothing.

"Right," Leonard said, beneath Sheldon's look. "Well, you know…don't forget to take your sleeping pills."

Sheldon sighed, rolling his eyes. His supposed "going away party" had been a sham, much like he had expected. It had merely been an occasion for his former friends to overload him with useless items, such as sleeping pills, pillows designed to allow you to sleep sitting up, and wool socks and mittens ("for the plane" Raj had insisted. "It gets nippy in the air.").

He stood up and grabbed his carry-on bag. Leonard awkwardly patted Sheldon on the arm. "Well…good luck in Switzerland…eat some fondue for me…"

Sheldon frowned, confused. "But you can't eat fondue. Why would I eat some for you?"

Leonard looked at Penny, who seemed to be hiding a smile. What on earth was she smiling at?

"Uh…nevermind," Leonard said. "Just…have a good trip."

Penny gave Sheldon a smile. "I'm going to hug you, ok?"

Sheldon shook his head, taking a step backwards, but, before he could get away, Penny came forward and wrapped her arms around him. He looked at Leonard over her head, sighing. Sheldon was not an expert on duration of hugs, but in his opinion Penny was holding on for an unnecessarily long period of time. When he started squirming, she let go.

"Have a good time, Sweetie. We'll be here when you get back."

Sheldon looked between the two of them and then nodded once.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" Leonard said.

Sheldon did a double take, frowning at Leonard.

"Right. Sorry."

Sheldon turned around and walked quickly towards the security gate, surprised to find his eyes stinging and his nasal passages suddenly clogged. Perhaps he should have included allergy medicine in his carry-on after all…

* * *

_One Month Later_

Bernadette walked quickly up to the door of the comic book store, determined to go through with her plan, but when she reached the door, she paused. What if it was the wrong decision? What if it only angered Amy? Bernadette had Amy's needs in mind, but what if what Bernadette thought was best for Amy wasn't really what was best for Amy?

Howard had told her to just mind her own business, as had Penny, but Bernadette just couldn't continue to watch Amy suffer. She knew that Penny's intent had been for Amy to move on, but it wasn't working. Amy wasn't moving on, not even with the knowledge that Sheldon had moved to Switzerland.

Bernadette had questioned Penny's decision to misinform Amy regarding the length of time Sheldon was going to be gone. She knew Penny had hoped that it would help, but Bernadette had learned a few things about trying to manipulate someone, even with the best of intentions. She had tried it with Howard, to keep him from going in to space, and it had only backfired on her.

She knew that Penny was closer to Amy than she was, but she still cared for Amy, and she found it very troubling that Amy had been dating Stuart for four months and _still_ had not managed to bring herself to kiss him. Stuart was a saint for hanging in there, although Howard had said Stuart was the type who would rather date someone than no one. Even still, Bernadette felt it wasn't fair to him either for Amy to continue to date him.

Bernadette had tried speaking with Amy first, trying to tactfully bring up, again, the possibility of simply breaking up with Stuart, but Amy had seemed reluctant. Bernadette supposed she could understand. Stuart seemed to be a nice guy; certainly patient enough. And Bernadette supposed Amy at least valued him as a friend.

She shook her head as she thought, again, _it's not fair to either of them._ She knew she was risking Amy's anger, should she ever find out what Bernadette was about to do, but that was a risk Bernadette was willing to take. She simply couldn't watch Amy continue to try to get over Sheldon faster than she was ready to, especially at the expense of someone else, like Stuart.

With that reaffirmation in her mind, Bernadette pulled open the door to the comic book store and walked inside. She blinked a bit, as her eyes were assaulted with a myriad of colors from floor to ceiling.

"Bernadette?"

Bernadette looked around, trying to find the source of the voice in the overwhelming amount of colors. She finally was able to see the counter, with Stuart behind it.

"Hello, Stuart."

"What can I help you with? If Howard sent you over here to check on his special order, you can let him know I've already said I'd call him when it got here."

Bernadette cleared her throat. "No. Howard didn't send me."

"Oh. Well in that case, what are you doing here? Can't say I get many women in the store."

Bernadette looked around. There appeared to be a couple of patrons browsing through the collection of comic books.

"Is there…some place we could speak in private?"

Stuart looked around, clearing his throat. "Uh…sure…we can talk in the back room." He looked over at the two patrons, grabbing a little bell, and putting it on the counter. "I'll be in the back room, pretending you aren't going to steal a comic book. Ring this bell when you are ready to pay."

Stuart led the way towards a curtain, holding it back so that Bernadette could walk through. She walked through, stopping in the middle of the back room, Stuart following her.

Before Bernadette could speak, however, Stuart spoke first. "I guess this is about Amy then?"

Bernadette looked at her hands, fidgeting. "Yes."

"You want me to break up with her?"

Bernadette looked up. "Yes."

Stuart's shoulder's hunched, and he looked sad. "Yeah…I knew it wasn't going to work out."

Bernadette cocked her head to the side. "Amy doesn't want to break up with you, you know. She does like you, just…not more than a friend."

Stuart nodded. "Yeah…I kind of figured that when she wouldn't kiss me for the twenty-second time."

Bernadette gave Stuart a sympathetic look. "You're a really great guy, Stuart. I'm sure there's a girl out there for you. After all, not many men would have been so patient with a girl like Amy…and…I think it'll be better for you too. You don't need to be with a woman who isn't over another guy." Bernadette spoke that last part softly, hoping to soften the blow.

Stuart sighed. "It's probably for the best. My therapist wanted me to start taking anti-depressants months ago, but I kept putting it off. This should be the kick I need to get that started."

Bernadette looked at Stuart seriously, "How are you going to break it to her? Regardless of whether or not she's attracted to you, another break up could crush her."

Stuart walked over towards a shelving unit, resting his elbow on a shelf, and his chin in his hand. "I guess I could offer to still hang out with her as her friend."

Bernadette stared for a moment. "Are you sure you're willing to do that?"

Stuart shrugged. "I like Amy…and I'm pretty much already just her friend. The only differences would be no more pressure on her to kiss me and my impending anti-depressant use."

Bernadette nodded. "Ok." She started to walk away, before turning back to Stuart and adding, "I think it would be best if you didn't mention this conversation."

Stuart nodded.

Bernadette walked out of the comic book store, still feeling conflicted about what had just transpired. She really hoped that it was the right thing to do…

* * *

Penny stared down at the text in her hand.

_Stuart broke up with me. Can you come over?_

Penny couldn't believe it. Sure she had wondered why Stuart hadn't broken up with Amy sooner, but she had just sort of figured it was because Stuart was such a nice guy. Why would he break up with her now?

Penny suddenly remembered Bernadette asking her why someone didn't talk to Stuart. She sighed and punched in Bernadette's number on her phone.

When Bernadette picked up the phone, Penny skipped the greeting and said, "Did you go talk to Stuart?"

Bernadette was silent. Penny rolled her eyes. "Bernadette! I can't believe you'd do that! Didn't you learn anything from trying to manipulate Howard?"

"I didn't manipulate Stuart!" Bernadette insisted. "When I got there, he knew what I was going to say…it sounded like he had thought about it before I ever got there."

Penny paused, surprised. "Really?"

"Well…wouldn't you have if you were in his shoes?"

"Wait a minute though, that doesn't change the fact that you went there in the first place. What if Amy gets worse? Another breakup could crush her."

"How can she get worse? And I talked to Stuart about that. He was going to let her down easy."

Penny rolled her eyes. "No such thing."

Bernadette sighed. "He said he was going to offer to still hang out with her, but just as her friend…who knows, maybe just having a friend instead of a boyfriend will do Amy some good."

"She already has friends," Penny said.

"Yeah, I know…but I think she misses having a…male friend. Maybe this will help."

Penny sighed. "Yeah, or turn into some warped Shamy-like relationship. Replacing one guy friend with another isn't going to help her get over Sheldon."

"Neither is replacing one boyfriend with another," Bernadette said quietly. "At least this way she won't get so depressed every time they go on a date and she can't bring herself to kiss him."

"Well," said Penny, "You got me there." She sighed again. "Alright, let's get over there and assess the damage."

"See you there," Bernadette said.

Penny hung up the phone, and grabbed her purse, hoping that she and Bernadette didn't find Amy in a puddle on the floor when they got there.

* * *

Amy walked over and answered the door, seeing both Bernadette and Penny at the door.

She frowned, confused. "Did the two of you come together?"

Penny shrugged, "Nope, we just got here at the same time." Penny gave Amy a sympathetic look. "How are you doing, Sweetie?"

Amy shrugged, turning around to go sit on the couch. "I don't know."

She could see Penny and Bernadette look at each other, and then walk over to sit down on the couch next to her.

"What do you mean?" Bernadette asked.

Amy fidgeted with her fingers. It was kind of confusing to her, but Stuart breaking up with her had almost felt like a relief. "I guess, I'm a little relieved."

Penny's eyebrows shot up. "Well…that's a good thing, then, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so…He did say we could still hang out as friends, so that's kind of nice."

Penny and Bernadette looked back at each other. Penny cleared her throat. "In that case, maybe we should celebrate?"

Amy frowned, confused. "Celebrate?"

Penny smiled, "Yeah! Come on, nothing says, 'let's get drunk' like a breakup."

Amy shrugged. "Ok. Do you want me to retrieve the liquor?"

Penny hopped up. "Uh…no, that's ok. I know where it is."

"I should hope so. You purchased most of it," said Amy, beginning to get excited about the prospect of an impromptu girl's night.

Penny walked over to the cabinet that Amy kept her liquor in, and Bernadette hopped up to get glasses, telling Amy to stay where she was. A couple of moments passed, with just the clinking of glasses, when Amy heard Bernadette say, "Amy…what's this?"

Amy looked over to see Bernadette holding a piece of paper. She looked down. "Oh…I got asked to speak at a conference…because of that paper that was published on the cover of _Neuron_. They want me to present it."

"How exciting! When is it?" Bernadette asked, as Penny continued to mix drinks.

"It's next month…but I'm not going to go," Amy felt a rock in the pit of her stomach at the mere thought.

"But…why not? It sounds like a pretty big deal," Bernadette responded.

Amy gestured towards the paper in Bernadette's hand. "Read where it's at."

Bernadette looked down and then said, "Oh…"

Penny looked over. "What? Where's it at?"

Bernadette looked over and said in a low voice, "Geneva."

Amy could tell by Penny's blank expression that she didn't understand the implications. "Geneva, Switzerland."

Penny raised her eyebrows. "Oh…"

Bernadette looked back at Amy, "But you should still go."

Amy looked at Bernadette, wondering if she was crazy. "I can't go…what if I run into…Sheldon?" She said his name quietly, as it still hurt to talk about him.

Bernadette didn't answer. Then Penny asked an astonishing question. "Well…how many people are in Geneva?"

"Depends on where you're talking about exactly," Amy responded. "But the greater Geneva area has about three million people."

"Well, there you go," said Penny. "I mean, the odds of running into Sheldon are…well, I don't know the number, but pretty huge. You've got three million people between the two of you."

Amy blinked at Penny, considering her statement. She hadn't really thought of it like that. She supposed it would be nearly impossible to find Sheldon if she were looking for him, let alone if she was trying to avoid him.

"I don't know…" she said, still hesitant.

Bernadette walked over. "You should do it. It's a great opportunity. And, as Penny surprisingly pointed out, the chances of seeing Sheldon there are pretty small."

Amy thought it over. When she had initially received the letter, she had been excited. But she had let fear take over when she realized she would be in the same city as Sheldon, and had ended up deciding not to go. She still had time to respond…and she hadn't actually told them no yet…

As if Bernadette could sense Amy wavering, she smiled at her. "Come one…you know you want to."

Despite herself, Amy felt herself getting excited by the prospect. She looked up, smiling slightly. "Alright."

"Yay!" both Penny and Bernadette walked over to Amy to give her a hug.

"Now _that's_ something to celebrate," Penny said, handing Amy her drink.

As Amy sat back, sipping at her (very strong) drink, she berated herself for being so silly. The chances of running into Sheldon in Geneva were indeed remarkably small.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! :)**


	6. Probability

**A/N: As always thank you most kindly for the reviews. :) ****So...there's this little thing called the Olympics on, don't know if you caught that. ;) Updating speeds may vary, as I am so in love with the Olympics that I actually spent an hour watching Water Polo this afternoon.** But enough of my jibber jabber. I'll let you get to reading.

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Amy looked out the window of the plane at the city of Geneva down below. Even from above, she could see that it had all the usual charm of a European city which has been around for many hundreds of years. The sight of what appeared to be a large fountain spray caught her eye. _How unusual_, she thought. She had, of course, read about Jet d'Eau, but seeing it in a picture was not quite the same as viewing it from the window of a plane.

Despite her initial reluctance to participate in the conference, Amy felt her excitement grow as the plane continued its descent towards the airport. The only thing which would make the experience even more fulfilling is if she had a friend, such as Penny, with her to accompany her during her sightseeing. But, then again, she had spent the better part of her life alone, including that summer abroad in Norway. She knew how to enjoy the sights alone, and was confident that she would be able to do so here as well as she had elsewhere.

As she pondered the beauty of the, as yet, tiny buildings, Sheldon flitted across her mind. He was down there somewhere. Amy felt her stomach tighten at the thought, but pushed it away. Yes, he was there, as were three million other people. And she undoubtedly had had a better chance of running into him in Pasadena than she ever will in Geneva.

Rather than focus on the fact that she would once again be treading on the same ground as Sheldon, Amy was determined to focus on her upcoming presentation and the following few days of sightseeing ahead of her. And who knew, perhaps she would be able to find a friend with which to enjoy the sights with among the other attendees at the conference.

As the plane continued its descent, Amy looked out past the city of Geneva towards the snow capped mountains beyond. She had read that those mountains were great for skiing. Amy had never really liked the thought of strapping long, thin wooden slats to her feet and gliding down a mountain at breakneck speeds, but...perhaps she could at least go visit the lodge and watch other such reckless people enjoy doing so.

As the plane continued its approach towards airport, Amy began to make out the tiny cars and tiny people, each on their way, apparently very hurriedly. Sheldon again flitted across her mind, and she frowned, berating herself, in what strangely sounded like Penny's voice in her mind. _Don't ruin your time here by moping._

She turned her eyes from the window and leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes and focusing on listening to the goings-on around her, as her fellow passengers prepared to disembark upon landing. The couple behind her had been having a difficult time in the past hour reigning in their toddler. Amy could hear them pleading quietly with the child to remain seated just a little longer. A pair of women to her right were speaking in rapid French. Amy did not speak French, but enjoyed the fluidity of the language…

She jerked awake when the plane bumped upon landing. She was momentarily disoriented before realizing that she must have dozed off and missed the last ten, or so, minutes of the flight.

She shook her head slightly to wake herself up. She had largely been unable to sleep on the plane, and the trip from California to Geneva had indeed been a long one. She turned to the passenger next to her, a nice older gentleman, and asked, "Excuse me, but what is the local time, please?" He gave it to her and she set her watch accordingly.

It appeared she still had over seven hours of daylight ahead of her. She recalled that the best way to acclimate to the local time was to stay awake and go to bed at a normal bedtime hour, rather than attempting to nap. She sighed. It would seem that she would need to go do some sight-seeing today.

After disembarking and obtaining her luggage, Amy made her way towards the train station, where she would spend six minutes on a train to the center of the city. Surrendering to the fact that it would be nearly impossible for her to ride on a train without thinking of Sheldon, Amy spent the six minutes indulging in her sleep-deprived, whimsical wonderings at whether or not she and Sheldon's paths would cross. Perhaps she would unknowingly visit the same places he visited…assuming he ever went sightseeing…which now that she was thinking about it, seemed unlikely. More likely, he was so involved in his quest for a Nobel Prize, that he completely ignored the fact that he was in a beautiful city in Europe. Amy frowned at the thought.

The train came to a stop at the Cornavin station and Amy wearily grabbed her belongings in order to disembark, resolutely pushing Sheldon out of her mind. She stopped on the platform next to the train and grabbed a piece of paper out of her carry-on bag, trying to figure out which tram, trolley, or bus she needed to take in order to reach her hotel.

Having figured it out, she looked up and around, trying to figure out which direction to go. Her exhaustion was making it ever more difficult for her to think properly. A passerby seemed to take pity on her, stopping to ask, in heavily accented English, if they could help. Amy informed the stranger of her hotel location and inquired which direction to go to catch the tram she needed to use in order to get there. The kind person pointed in the direction she needed to go. Amy thanked them, and started walking in the right direction.

Once arriving at her hotel, she checked in, only to be informed that her room was not, as yet, ready. Amy blinked in weary confusion. "What do you mean it's not ready?"

"We're very sorry," said the front desk attendant in accented English. "We have been filled to capacity this entire week and have had several employees call in sick. You are welcome to leave your luggage with us and go enjoy a meal."

At the mention of a meal, Amy's stomach growled and she realized she had no idea how long it had been since she had last eaten. She didn't like the thought of leaving her luggage behind, but she liked the thought of carrying it with her to lunch even less.

"Very well," She said, resigned. "What time can I expect the room to be ready?"

"I will call and have them work on it immediately."

Amy nodded. "Thank you." The front desk attendant came around to grab Amy's bag. At the last moment Amy said, "Wait," and reached in to her carry-on to pull out a small purse which contained her wallet and passport. She would not get very far without her wallet, and she was taking no chances of losing her passport.

"Where would you suggest I eat?" She asked the attendant.

The woman listed off a few restaurants close by, with directions of how to reach them. Amy thanked her and walked out the door and down the street.

Once inside the restaurant, Amy was seated by a window, affording her the opportunity to watch people walking by. She spent the majority of the meal attempting not to doze, with her chin in her hand as she gazed out at the street. Before she realized what she was doing, her eyes glazed over and she began once again to wonder where in this city Sheldon was.

She was jolted out of her reverie when she saw a flash of red on a shirt, her mind instantly thinking of Sheldon. She craned her neck around, but since all passers-by were wearing jackets, she could not be sure which person it had been who had been wearing the red.

Amy shook her head at herself. Why had she been thinking of Sheldon so much? Perhaps it had been a bad idea to come to Geneva after all. She had managed in the past month, since Stuart had broken up with her, to largely keep her mind off of Sheldon. But her hard earned mental diligence was doing her no good today.

She closed her eyes. Then again, perhaps it was simply due to her lack of sleep. Her mind was in a compromised state. She was sure that after a good night's rest she would be able to firmly keep Sheldon out of mind.

Amy spent the remainder of her meal looking around the restaurant, rather than out the window. Apparently she could not be trusted not to see Sheldon among a crowd of people.

After the conclusion her meal, Amy decided to simply get on with her sightseeing, rather than going back to the hotel where the bed might tempt her to sleep. Apparently the sustenance had given her a second wind.

She spent the following few hours simply walking along the streets, gazing at the buildings. She found the temperature surprisingly temperate, given that it was only a few weeks off from Christmas. Perhaps she hadn't needed to bring her extra warm tights with her after all.

Amy eventually made her way down to the grand Lac Léman. She looked around and mused that it appeared as if all roads led to the giant lake in front of her. She stood for a moment, mesmerized, in her jet lagged state, by Jet d'Eau in the distance. The fountain spray was so tall that Amy wondered if it could be seen from nearly any point in Geneva. Again her thoughts turned to Sheldon, wondering if he taken the time to see this feat of water related mechanics.

She sighed and turned away, pressing her lips together in irritation at herself, and started her return journey to the hotel. She was nearly tempted to try a different route, but decided at the last moment that in her sleep deprived state it was probably best for her to return the same way she came.

By the time she reached the hotel, she had been walking for many hours, and her body was nearly as tired as her brain. The front desk attendant gave her the key to her room, she grabbed her bags, and gratefully headed for the elevator, eager to greet her foreign bed.

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Sheldon sat on the tram, on his way back to his hotel room, firmly engrossed in the sheet of paper in front of him, filled with numbers and letters that he smugly realized made little sense to anyone but himself.

His month in Geneva had indeed been productive. He was not one to extend undue sentimentality to people, places, or things, but he couldn't help but think that the cause for his increased brain function was simply being on the ground in Geneva, working at CERN.

None of the other scientists in his group matched his intelligence of course, but he had observed that the average IQ among his supposed peers was indeed much greater than it ever had been at Cal-tech. He found this refreshing.

Not that there hadn't been obstacles to overcome during his time in Geneva. For one thing, he had had to go through the tedious process of discovering which restaurants were suitable to eat at and what his meal of choice at each restaurant would be. His digestive system had not thanked him for its upheaval in the early days of his time in Switzerland. Thankfully it appeared to have adjusted.

Then there was the public transportation to contend with. He had become very accustomed to having Leonard, or one of his other former friends, drive him to and from work, and other such places. As such, he had realized very early on that he would have to purchase additional pairs of pants, as he simply did not have enough bus (or in this case "tram") pants to last through an entire work week.

Now, however, several weeks into his stay in Geneva, he had largely worked out the kinks of his current living situation and his life had fallen into a wonderfully predictable pattern.

The best part of the entire situation was that for nearly the entirety of his time in Geneva, Sheldon had never been reminded of…her. The extra reprieve to his mental faculties was, he believed, one reason for his increased focus during his time here.

Sheldon looked up for a moment as he pondered one of the equations on the page in front of him, and realized that his stop was the very next one. How fortuitous that he should have looked up at that moment. He had missed the stop before, due to his preoccupation with his work, and he had not found the experience a pleasant one.

As the tram slowed to a stop, Sheldon gathered his messenger bag and stood up, exiting the tram and walking briskly towards his hotel. He continued to hold the piece of paper in front of his face, pondering the equations on it, having long since memorized the exact step sequence needed to get from the tram stop to his hotel room.

Once inside the hotel, he pushed the button for the elevator and then stood, eyes narrowed at the paper, willing the equations to balance themselves. He heard the ding of the elevator as if from a long distance and walked inside as the doors opened.

Sheldon took his usual spot inside the elevator, to the side where the buttons were, and pushed the number for his floor, not bothering to look up from his paper. Just as the doors were closing he heard another person enter the elevator.

"Excuse me, could you please push the button for the fifth floor?"

Sheldon froze, paper in hand, as he realized he recognized the voice. But it couldn't be…why on earth would…she…be in Geneva?

Just as the elevator doors closed, Sheldon dropped the paper from his face, only to find that his ears had not lied. She was indeed standing in the very same elevator that he was.

The elevator started its journey upwards.

Sheldon panicked, putting one hand to his chest, as the pain in the center had started again, and began pushing the button which was supposed to open the doors. For her part…she…appeared to be just as shocked as he was. Sheldon continued to push the button, over and over again, willing the door to open.

But, much to Sheldon's horror, rather than having the doors open, the entire elevator shuddered to a stop.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! **

**Amy's Playlist: "Maybe You'll Be There" by Diana Krall (who else? :))**

**P.S. Bucket List item 423: Visit Geneva.**


	7. Trapped

**A/N: As always, thank you very much for the reviews. Let's continue on shall we? (Oh and you can thank a slow work day for tonight's update.) ;)**

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When Sheldon lowered the piece of paper to reveal himself, Amy's first thought had been that her sleep deprived mind had created a mirage. But after several moments in which no amount of blinking made him disappear, Amy had come to the conclusion that Sheldon was indeed right in front of her, frantically pushing a button with one hand, while holding his other hand up to his chest.

Amy closed her eyes for a moment, feeling her stomach tighten. The odds should have been working _for_ her. How had she ended up, not only in the same hotel with Sheldon, but in the same elevator, at the same time? The probability had been so low…

When Amy felt the elevator shudder to a stop, she opened her eyes, wondering if they had reached one of the floors.

Sheldon gasped, and began looking around frantically, although never in her direction, as if trying to figure a way out.

Amy willed herself to voice her most pressing question. "What happened?"

Sheldon closed his eyes, hand still on his chest, and flattened himself against the wall of the elevator, as if trying to get as far away from her as possible. Amy could see him swallow, before he answered.

"We appear to be stuck in an elevator," he answered, panic evident in his voice.

Amy looked around for the telephone typically found in elevators for just such occasions, but quickly realized that this elevator must have predated those models, as there was none to be found. She very nearly started crying. She was tired, jet lagged, having just spent several hours walking, and she longed for a bed. Instead she now found herself face to face with the one person in Geneva she had hoped never to see; and not just face to face, but stuck in an eight by eight cube with.

She sighed, and tipped over her suitcase so that she could sit down on top of it. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Amy opened her eyes, looking at Sheldon, her breath hitching when their eyes met. "I'm sitting down. I just arrived today and am severely lacking in sleep."

Sheldon frowned, hand still on his chest. Amy wondered at that, but before she could give it any more thought, Sheldon said, "So you're not going to help me figure out a way out of here?"

Amy frowned in return, looking around and then back at Sheldon. "There is no way out of here…unless you intend to climb through the ceiling and scale the elevator cable to the nearest floor."

Sheldon's eyes widened, and he looked around frantically. "We are going to die."

Amy closed her eyes. "We're not going to die. We are merely going to have to wait for an unknown amount of time until the elevator can be repaired."

"How can you say that?" Amy opened her eyes again when she heard Sheldon's breathing turn to gasping.

She frowned at him, now clutching the front of his shirt and breathing raggedly. "Calm down."

Sheldon eyes flitted towards her before he closed his eyes and responded with. "How can I calm down? I may die in an elevator with the last person in the world I wish to see."

Amy felt the air leave her lungs at that. She closed her eyes, reminding herself that she had known for a while that Sheldon no longer cared for her. But it still stung.

"Oh god. Oh god. Oh god." Sheldon's voice was becoming more harried with each exclamation. Amy opened her eyes again to find him pacing back and forth, which, given the size of the elevator, amounted to one and a half steps in each direction.

"I was supposed to win a Nobel Prize, not die in an elevator."

Amy sighed. "We're not going to die in an elevator."

Sheldon stopped his pacing and looked at her, appearing angry. "You don't know that! And why are you here? You're not supposed to be here! I was supposed to get away from all reminders of you!"

Amy frowned becoming angry at his anger towards her. _He_ was the one who had put his work ahead of all else, not her. "I am no happier at being stuck in an elevator with you than you are to be stuck in the same elevator with me. Do you think my dearest wish was to come to Geneva and get stuck in an elevator with a man who cares for nothing but his work?"

Sheldon stared at her, still breathing raggedly. Abruptly he began his pacing again. Amy watched him, as his breathing became ever more frantic, now clutching the front of his shirt with both hands.

She again leaned her head against the wall of the elevator, again closing her eyes. With her eyes closed she could make out the faint "I'm going to die. I'm going to die." that Sheldon appeared to be chanting underneath his breath.

This was a nightmare. How was she supposed to avoid him when they were staying in the same hotel? The chances of running into him during a trip on the elevator of the hotel they were both staying at were many magnitudes of order less than running into him randomly on the streets of Geneva, and yet that probability had done her no good. She had still managed to run into him, despite the overwhelming odds against such a thing happening.

Amy suddenly heard Sheldon say "uh oh" and opened her eyes in time to see him hit the floor in a dead faint.

_Fifteen Minutes Later_

Sheldon opened his eyes abruptly and found himself staring at a ceiling which was unfamiliar to him. What had happened? Where was he? He looked to his left and found himself facing a wood paneled wall. He frowned, still confused. He looked to the right and saw…her…sitting on her suitcase with her head against the wall and her eyes closed.

Sheldon put his hand back to his chest as the pain returned and he remembered what had happened. He was stuck in an elevator with…her. He had fainted.

He frowned at the ceiling in confusion, suddenly realizing there was something beneath his head. He sat up, and looked behind him, seeing a pile of sweaters where his head had been. He blinked, unsure what to make of them. They were certainly not his, therefore he must conclude that they belonged to…her.

Suddenly Sheldon realized he was sitting on the floor…of an elevator…upon which untold numbers of people had tread. He gasped and leapt upwards as quickly as he could, reaching for his bag to get his hand sanitizer.

As he was rubbing his hands together Sheldon stole another glance towards…her, only to find that she was watching him silently. He closed his eyes as the pain in his chest very nearly caused him to gasp. He would not faint again. He could not faint again. He leaned against the wall, leaning his head back.

How had this happened? Why was…she here? And even if…she was here, why had…she ended up in the same elevator at the same time as him. The odds were overwhelmingly against such a thing happening. It defied logic.

Sheldon felt his earlier anger return. Things had been going well. He had been doing well. His chest pain had all but disappeared. But it was all for naught now that…she…had re-entered his life. He could feel his concentration dissipating as if it were a palpable substance. He would have to move; find a new hotel; new restaurants to eat at; retrain the staff of the new hotel to never enter his room; go through the hassle of again negotiating his personal use of the hotel's cleaning supplies and laundering facilities.

He began pacing again. That was, of course, assuming that he managed to get out of this elevator. He glanced over at…her, who was still wordlessly watching him. Sheldon paused in his pacing, looking down at the sweaters on the floor.

He closed his eyes, realizing that…she, must have attended to his needs after he had fainted. He felt a funny sensation in his stomach, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Sheldon opened his eyes again and bent down to pick up the sweaters. He wordlessly held them out for…her to grab.

She hesitated before slowly reaching out and grabbing the sweaters from him.

Sheldon began having an internal struggle with himself about whether or not to thank…her for providing a soft place for his head. Suddenly the image of himself doing a very similar thing for…her a year and a half earlier entered his mind. Again he felt the funny sensation in his stomach. He closed his eyes, balling his fists as he tried to remove the image of…her passed out on her bathroom floor from his mind.

He began mentally reciting the Newton's Laws over and over and eventually the image faded. Sheldon swallowed hard and opened his eyes, looking down at…her. She was looking up at him with a slight frown on her face.

Sheldon cleared his throat, said, "Thank you," and walked over to the corner diagonal to the one…she was sitting at. He turned around to face the corner, crossing his arms against it, and leaning his head against his arms.

_Thirty Minutes After That_

Amy looked at her watch again, noting that it had now been thirty minutes since Sheldon had last spoken. She was unsure whether to be intrigued or insulted. He had remained standing in his corner for nearly twenty minutes, but had eventually grabbed his messenger bag and had sat down on it. He was now staring at a piece of paper, which appeared to have equations on it.

Amy found herself staring at the floor longingly. She knew that it was covered in who knew how many germs and dirt from the myriad of people who had used this elevator, and that it would not make a very comfortable bed, but in her current sleep deprived state, Amy felt as if she were looking at a bed made out of eider down.

She was startled out of her reverie when Sheldon abruptly stood up, tossing the paper he had been holding aside.

"Why is it taking so long?" He appeared to be addressing his question to no one, but then turned to look directly at Amy, putting a hand to his chest at the same time.

She blinked in mild surprise. "I don't know. I suppose it takes some time to first discover that the elevator is not working, and then for them to get a crew of repair workers to come. And then of course, the time for the actual repair."

Sheldon began his one and a half step pacing again. "I don't even hear the sound of the workers. They haven't even gotten here. Why haven't they gotten here?" He glanced at her again. "How long have we been stuck in here?"

"Approximately forty-five minutes," she responded.

Sheldon stopped his pacing. "Then why hasn't anyone come yet? Why are the workers not here? How long are we to be stuck in this death trap?" Again he glanced towards her. Each time he did so, Amy felt a slight jolt run through her system. She desperately needed to get some sleep.

"I don't know, Sheldon," she said wearily.

Sheldon started his pacing back up, making her both dizzy and even more worn out by simply watching him. Amy looked down at her suitcase, which she was currently still sitting on. She considered simply lying down on it, but didn't think it would be long enough. She didn't exactly relish sleeping on the floor, but she also knew that she would be unable to stay awake for much longer.

Amy stood up, causing Sheldon to pause in his pacing.

"What are you doing?" he said, sounding panicked. "Don't move. What if the entire elevator starts plummeting?"

Amy looked over at Sheldon in confusion. "You have been pacing. How is my standing up putting us in any more danger of plummeting than your constant walking?"

Sheldon appeared to press his lips together, but didn't answer, looking away from her.

Amy turned back to her suitcase, opening it up and taking out the sweaters she had used under Sheldon's head, along with several other clothing items, lining them all up in a row so that she could lay on them. She pushed her suitcase against the wall, and then lay down on her makeshift bed, removing her glasses, and putting the sweaters underneath her head.

"What are you doing?"

Amy moved her eyes up to look at Sheldon, who was frowning down at her. "I'm going to go to sleep. I cannot stay awake any longer. I have been awake for well over twenty-four hours by this point."

Sheldon said nothing, instead continuing his pacing, as Amy drifted off to sleep.

_One Hour Later_

Sheldon sat on his messenger bag, knees pulled up to his chest, with his arms wrapped around them, and his chin resting on top. He had now been in this death trap of an elevator for nearly two hours, and…she continued to sleep.

He had spent a large portion of time simply pacing, his mind racing with possible ways to send out help messages, or to get the elevator started again, or to simply find a way out of this confined space. He intended to have a long, strongly worded conversation with the owner of this hotel as soon as he got out of here. His stomach growled. Or at least as soon as he got out of here and ate his dinner.

He sighed. His digestive system had become regulated so very recently, and now it was going to, yet again, be thrown out of whack. He should have had his dinner at least an hour ago.

Sheldon suddenly straightened up as he heard, what sounded like, people talking. He strained his ears to hear what was being said, but unfortunately it was all in French, a language he had not, as yet, mastered. He had been too busy working on his next great discovery to worry about learning a local language. And of course, most of the people he needed to converse with already knew English. But now, as he heard the French being spoken in the distance, Sheldon sorely wished he had taken the time to learn.

Sheldon looked over at…her, sleeping. She had initially had her back to him, but a little bit ago had turned over to face him, her hair askew and her mouth slightly open as she breathed softly.

Without fully realizing what he was doing, Sheldon studied her, noting how different she looked without her glasses, and with her hair falling over her shoulders and face.

Unbidden, the evening of their first kiss came back into his mind. He closed his eyes, balling up his fists again as he willed the image away. But rather than dissipate, the image became ever clearer in his mind's eye. He recalled, as if in slow motion, the way she had twirled her hair around her finger, while he, at the time, had been confused about what she was doing and why; recalled the way her lips had felt on his; recalled his fascination that he had not found the kiss abhorrent, but rather…delightful.

Sheldon put the palms of his hands over his eyes, concentrating harder on getting the image out of his head. He tried to recite Newton's Laws again, but only made it as far as "_The acceleration of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force_" before his thoughts were interrupted by the memory of…her forceful leap towards him upon receiving her tiara.

Sheldon gripped his fists together, deciding to try another tactic, as Newton's Laws appeared to be failing him. Perhaps a recitation of Shakespeare would work. Perhaps his mind had found a way to link…her…with physics. Perhaps the arts remained untainted in his mind.

But try as he might to recall any number of Shakespearean plays, the only thing he could recall at the moment was Romeo's soliloquy in _Romeo and Juiliet_.

Math. Multiplications tables. _Eleven times ten is one hundred ten. Eleven times eleven is one hundred twenty one._

Sheldon focused on multiplication tables, finding that he had finally found something to keep his mind off of…what he wanted to keep it off of.

It was as he was reciting the answer to seventeen times thirteen that the elevator suddenly jolted and began moving.

Sheldon jumped up, grabbing his messenger bag and the sheet of paper filled with equations off the floor. He glanced at…her, noticing that she was still asleep.

The elevator dinged and opened, but Sheldon didn't immediately move to get off. He took one step forward towards the doors, but then looked back at…her still asleep. He took a step back and towards…her, but then once again looked at the doors, conflicted. The doors started to close, so Sheldon threw himself towards the buttons, hitting the open door button. He looked at…her a third time, and, making a snap decision, he walked briskly towards…her, shaking her shoulder.

She opened her eyes and looked at him as if not recognizing him. After he was satisfied that she had awakened, Sheldon turned around and strode quickly out of the elevator just as the doors were closing.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! :) And fear not...plenty more Shamy to come.**


	8. Puzzlement

**A/N: Many thanks for the reviews. Believe me, I was probably just as shocked as you that Amy and Sheldon had so little to say to each other. I had every intention of having them say more, but Sheldon has a tendency to be stubborn (as can Amy) and fought me the whole way. I learned in my first fic that it's simpler just to let him win, and try again later. Have no fear though, Sheldon may have won the battle, but I shall win the war! ;)**

* * *

Amy awoke, momentarily disoriented. She looked around, and then remembered that she was in a hotel room in Geneva. She squinted at the clock, noting that she appeared to have slept the better part of eleven hours.

She reached over to grab her glasses, putting them on as she sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She sat there for a moment, blinking as she recalled the strange events of the evening prior. She had been so tired that she almost wondered if it had been a dream. But unfortunately, she was sure that it had been real. She did not think even her subconscious could come up with such an unlikely scenario.

However, when Sheldon had shaken her awake she really had wondered if she had been dreaming. Without her glasses, his face had been blurry and he had left before she had a chance to fully realize what had happened. But then she had felt the elevator moving and had realized that she was still sitting on the floor.

She had quickly gathered her clothes, throwing them in her suitcase and zipping it up in a hurry as the elevator doors had opened to her floor. She had stumbled out, lugging her bags behind her as she had searched for her room. She had nearly considered skipping brushing her teeth, given how tired she had been, but had managed to convince herself that it was necessary, especially given that it had been over twenty-four hours since she had last brushed. Then she had quickly thrown on her pajamas and nearly collapsed into the bed.

Amy shook her head slightly and stood up. She had best prepare for the day. She was not presenting for two more days, but there were several lectures that she had been looking forward to seeing.

Amy gathered her clothes and started for the bathroom, eager to shake off the prior evening and begin enjoying her time in Geneva.

* * *

Sheldon sat eating his breakfast, at a café a short walk from his current hotel, with his laptop open on the right side of the table. He took a bite of toast and marmalade, opening his web browser and typing "hotels in Geneva, Switzerland" in the search engine. The results were too many for him to go through, so he refined his search to his current street. He was hoping to find an acceptable hotel located close enough to his current hotel that he would not have to find new restaurants to eat at. There appeared to be several hotels to choose from.

He clicked on the first one, noting from the pictures that it appeared clean, although he knew that pictures could be deceiving. The building seemed to be even older than his current hotel's building, however. He wrote down the name of the hotel, its location, and made a note to remind himself to ask if the elevators had been upgraded.

Sheldon had taken the stairs this morning, for two reasons. One, he was not willing to get back into the death trap that had nearly killed him the evening prior. And two, he was taking no chances of running into…her again.

He took another bite of his toast and washed it down with some hot chocolate. He noted with some annoyance that the café was busier than usual this morning. A couple in the table adjacent to him were having what sounded like a heated debate in French, and the people just behind him were speaking very loudly in German. One of the reasons he had chosen this particular establishment to eat at, besides the barista's ability to make the hot chocolate to his exact specifications, was due to its usually quiet atmosphere.

Sheldon sighed and returned to his search, writing down the names of all possibilities and his questions on his notepad, while simultaneously eating his toast and drinking his hot chocolate.

As he finished his last sip of hot chocolate, Sheldon looked at the time, noting that if he did not leave soon, he would miss his tram. He quickly packed away his lap top and then headed out the door.

* * *

Amy arrived at the University of Geneva, making note of the charming buildings. If she recalled, the university had been in existence since the mid 1500's. She looked at her map of the campus, finding where she was currently located, and then locating where she needed to be for the lecture series.

She made her way across the campus, head down, lost in her thoughts. She had not run into Sheldon this morning, although she supposed that was not much of a surprise. She suspected he would have to leave fairly early if he was taking a tram to work. But what was currently puzzling her was her inability to decide whether or not she was relieved or disappointed.

Amy had been the one to sever all contact with Sheldon, because she had believed it would make the transition easier. She had been heartbroken and had not believed she would be strong enough to resist Sheldon's constant attempts to get in contact with her otherwise. She had even spent nearly the entire first week at her mother's house, assuming that Sheldon would attempt to find her at her apartment when she refused to respond to his communications.

As a result, aside from the one brief time in which they had crossed paths in the comic book store, Amy had not seen nor heard from Sheldon in over seven months. To have suddenly found herself in his presence with no way of escaping had been…strange. She couldn't say that she enjoyed the experience; it had been, for all intents and purposes, a living nightmare. And yet, she had found herself almost hoping to run into him again this morning.

It was puzzling.

Amy looked up, realizing she had not been paying attention to where she was going. She looked around, then down at her map, trying to figure out how far off she was from her desired destination. She looked at her watch and realized she would miss the start of the lecture if she didn't hurry. She quickly figured out which direction to head, noting with relief that she wasn't as far off as she thought, and began walking brusquely towards the building.

During the nearly two hour lunch break between lectures, Amy found her way to one of the campus eateries. She was generally unfamiliar with the food typically found in Switzerland, and was unhappy to note that the menu was in French. Luckily the person at the cash register spoke English. Amy requested a sandwich, hoping it was something edible.

As she sat eating, happy to discover that her sandwich was made with deli meat and cheese, she thought of her friends back in Pasadena. She really wanted to call Penny on Skype, but it was still in the very early morning hours in California, and Amy knew how Penny was about her sleep. She supposed she would simply have to settle for sending an email.

After finishing her meal, Amy grabbed out her laptop and typed out a quick email to her both Penny and Bernadette.

_Hello from Geneva,_

_You will be happy to note that I arrived safely, although my arrival in Geneva was not without its strange moments. As luck (or more appropriately, un-luck) would have it, I appear to be staying in the same hotel as Sheldon. We were stuck in an elevator together for nearly two hours. Fortunately very little talking occurred as Sheldon passed out and/or refused to speak, and I spent at least one of the two hours asleep on the floor, having not had a chance to sleep since waking up in Pasadena. Today's lectures have been very interesting. I hope things are going well with you._

_I shall email again later,_

_Amy_

Amy reread the email and, satisfied with it, sent it.

She looked at her watch, noting that there was still nearly an hour and a half until the next lecture. She looked around, trying to decide what to do in the interim. Perhaps the library. This was a university after all. She was interested in seeing which books were available in the Neurobiology section. Perhaps there was one she hadn't read. Amy quickly put away her laptop and headed in the direction of the university's library.

* * *

Penny groaned as she heard her phone ding, alerting her to an email. She _really_ needed to remember to turn off the email alerts on her phone.

She groggily reached over to grab her phone, opening the email so that her phone wouldn't keep giving her the alert. She started to shut off her phone when the name "Sheldon" popped out at her half opened eye.

Penny rubbed her eyes, looking to see who the email was from and saw it was from Amy. She threw her head back on the pillow, annoyed when she realized she wouldn't be going back to sleep. It was so early! And she had to work the dinner shift.

Penny brought the phone up close to her face, using her hand to shield the light so that she wouldn't wake up Leonard, who was still asleep beside her. When she got to the part where Amy said she was in the same hotel as Sheldon and had gotten _stuck in an elevator_ with him, Penny forgot about Leonard, gasping and jumping out of bed.

Leonard woke up, groggily saying, "Penny? What's wrong?"

Penny quickly grabbed her robe, saying, "Nothing, Sweetie. Go back to sleep."

She walked out into the living room and grabbed her lap top, turning it on, tapping her fingers impatiently on her legs while she waited. How was it even possible for Amy and Sheldon to end up in the same hotel?

Penny her fingers on the bridge of her nose. Amy was probably going to relapse now…and she'd been doing so good since Stuart had broken up with her. And, oh god, she didn't even want to think about what Sheldon would be like. They had only heard from him once, and only because Leonard had made him promise that he would let them know when he had gotten to Geneva safely. It had been a very short email. "_I'm in Geneva. I arrived safely._"

Once the computer was on, Penny opened up her email and hit reply to Amy's email.

_SKYPE ME AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS_.

Penny hit send and then sat back to wait. With any luck, Amy would call immediately. She _had_ just sent the email like not even ten minutes ago.

* * *

Amy walked out of the last lecture of the day, positively inspired. It had been a very interesting lecture indeed, and had actually given rise to several ideas in Amy's head for further research. She nearly had a skip in her step as she walked back towards the tram stop she had arrived at.

On her way to the stop Amy realized that she wasn't quite ready to head back to the hotel. Perhaps she would see more sights. She stopped and looked up, the mountains in the distance catching her eye. Or perhaps she could go sit by a fire and drink hot cocoa at one of the ski resorts. She smiled at the thought. There were still a few hours of daylight left, so perhaps she would be able to watch the reckless skiers as well.

She stopped the nearest person walking by her and asked which ski resort was the best and how to get there. The student only spoke rudimentary English, but eventually Amy was able to make out the name of the resort and the best mode of transportation to get there.

When she arrived at the ski resort, she walked up the slightly icy stairs into the ski lodge. It was definitely much colder up in the mountains that it was down in the city below. Having only brought a light jacket with her, Amy was sufficiently chilled by the time she walked through the door.

She looked around, uneasily noting that there seemed to be nothing but couples inside. She walked over and ordered a hot chocolate, taking it to a seat close to both the fire and a window where she could see the tiny people coming down the mountainside.

Amy marveled at the fact that anyone would find the idea of strapping wooden slats to your feet and gliding down a mountain at breakneck speeds appealing. Death by skiing was certainly not unheard of, let alone the numerous cases of people fracturing their tibia, fibula, or femur bones. But from her current vantage point, it at least appeared that everyone seemed to be having fun.

Without her realizing it, Amy's mind turned to Sheldon. She had always admired his practicality. It had been one of the reasons she had become attracted to him in the first place. She now found it ironic that his practicality was, in part, responsible for their current status as ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.

Amy's eyes wandered from the picturesque mountainside and around the room. Several couples were sitting close to each other, gazing in the eyes of their partner and/or sharing hot cups of cocoa. Amy sighed and looked down at her loan cup of cocoa and the empty seat across from her.

Suddenly, she was overcome with the desire to return to her hotel. She no longer wanted to be sitting there, surrounded by couples and watching people be recklessly ski down a mountain. She took a last drink of her cocoa and got up to head back to the hotel.

* * *

Sheldon sat fuming on his tram ride home. As he was not the one paying for his hotel in Geneva, he had gone to the person in charge and had made his formal request for a change of hotels. The answer he had received in response to his request had been very dissatisfying, and he had made sure his dissatisfaction was known.

Sheldon had been told that, due to the amount of paperwork needed, and the supposed "lack of immediacy" in the nature of his request, it would take no less than two weeks before he would be able to find a new hotel. He had explained that he would need to move sooner, and that two weeks was a completely unacceptable time frame, but the person of obviously lower intelligence would not be moved to classify his request as urgent. Apparently, he had not found Sheldon's reason that his ex-girlfriend was staying in the same hotel a cause for alarm.

Sheldon had been in the midst of arguing his case when the head of the team Sheldon was working with had come in and had informed him that, should he wish to remain on the project, he need to desist with his "temper tantrum".

Sheldon scoffed to himself. He never threw "temper tantrums". He had been perfectly within his right to be upset at the frustrating bureaucracy which would keep him in a hotel likely longer than the entirety of…her stay.

He got off at his stop and walked quickly to the hotel, still angry and holding a hand to his chest. He walked to the stairs and stomped up to his floor. He walked into his room, flicking on the light and throwing his messenger bag in the corner.

He began pacing, too angry to sit down. How could he be expected to stay in the same hotel as…her? It was simply unacceptable!

Approximately three minutes into his pacing, Sheldon noticed a blinking light on his hotel telephone. He frowned. He had never received a message. Who would be calling?

Sheldon walked over, picked up the phone, and pushed the button to listen to the message.

"Bonjour, this is Lara, a nurse from ze Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève," he heard in heavily accented English. "We 'ave a Mademoiselle Fowler 'oo 'as been in an accident and 'as listed a Doctor Sheldon Cooper as 'er emergency contact. Please give us a call back at-"

Sheldon threw down the phone, clutching the front of his shirt with both hands, breathing heavily. He looked around the room, unsure how to handle the news he had just received…She had been in an accident. But the nurse had not specified what type of accident; had not said how badly she was hurt. Sheldon's eyes landed on his messenger bag. Without fully thinking through his decision, he grabbed the bag and ran out the door. He had to go to the hospital; he had to make sure…Amy was ok.

* * *

**A/N: Don't panic.**


	9. Shocking News

**A/N: I tell you not to panic, but you panic anyway. lol I actually was going to upload this last night, but my internet went out (Thunderstorms) and then I was going to do it earlier this evening, but the power went out! (more Thunderstorms) Thankfully it's back so that I can put you out of your misery. :) Thanks a million for the reviews. :)**

* * *

Sheldon strode quickly into the hospital and walked over to the information desk. The woman at the desk looked up and smiled at him.

"Bonjour-"

"I don't have time for that," Sheldon interrupted. "I am looking for Amy Farrah Fowler. She is a patient here."

The woman raised her eyebrows. "I see. And 'ow do you know Mademoiselle Fowler?"

"I'm-"

Sheldon paused, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "I'm her emergency contact. Doctor Sheldon Cooper. Now please tell me where she is located."

The woman held out her hand. "I am afraid I will need to see some identification."

Sheldon sighed, exasperated, and reached into his bag to grab out his passport. "This is a ridiculous waste of time," he muttered, handing the passport to the woman. He frowned as she examined it closely, taking much longer than she needed to before handing it back to him.

"Very good. Please give me a moment, and I will locate 'er for you."

Sheldon crossed his arms, impatient. Why had the nurse who had left the message not explained the nature of the accident? What if Amy had been in a terrible accident? What if she was in a coma? What if she never woke up? What if she woke up and had amnesia and didn't know who he was, or who she was, or that she was a successful neurobiologist? What if she wasn't in a coma, but had been badly injured? What if she could no longer walk? What if she was paralyzed from the neck down? What if she had had a head injury which rendered her unable to speak?

Sheldon squeezed his eyes shut, clutching the front of his shirt as his center of his chest throbbed. An image of the previous night came into his head. _"I might die in an elevator with the last person in the world I wish to see."_ He let go of the front of his shirt and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes as the image of Amy's hurt expression entered his mind.

This was absurd. Why should he be thinking of this now? The only thing that mattered at the moment was finding out whether or not she was ok. After that he could…return to his hotel in peace.

"Docteur Cooper?"

Sheldon put down his hands and opened his eyes. The woman at the desk was looking at him strangely. He cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"Mademoiselle Fowler is in room 3-1-4."

Sheldon blinked at the woman. "I beg your pardon?"

"She is in room 3-1-4."

Sheldon shook his head. How strange.

Sheldon suddenly jumped when he realized that he now had her room number and could find out the fate of Amy Farrah Fowler.

"Which direction do I go?"

"It is up to ze third floor and to ze left, but-" Sheldon immediately started walking towards the stairs, not wishing to take the elevator. The woman continued yelling towards him. "Monsier? Monsier! You must have ze visitor's badge!"

Sheldon walked quickly up the stairs to the third floor, coming out the door, and looking around. The woman had said to the left. He walked brusquely, passing by the nurse's station without a second glance.

"Pardon, Monsier-"

Sheldon kept walking, looking for room 314.

"Monsier! Excusez-moi! Quelqu'un arrête cet homme!"

Sheldon felt a hand grab his arm. He frowned, trying to wrench it free. He turned to look at his assailant. "I beg your pardon. Would you mind not man-handling me? I am here to see Amy Farrah Fowler in room 314."

The man holding Sheldon's arm raised his eyebrows. "Monsier, you must 'ave a visitor's badge. You do not 'ave one."

Sheldon wrenched his arm again. "It is not 'sir' it is 'Doctor'. I am Doctor Sheldon Cooper!" he exclaimed, frustrated at being held hostage by a man-handler when the answer to Amy's current fate was a mere few steps away. "And this is ridiculous. I have already spoken with the woman downstairs. She is the one who informed me that I would be able to locate Amy in room 314."

"I am sorry, Monsier-"

"Attendez, Monsieur!"

Both Sheldon and the man currently holding his arm looked down the hallway. The woman from downstairs was waving her hand and jogging towards them, holding something in her hand.

"Docteur Cooper, you forgot your Visitor's badge," she said, handing it to him.

Sheldon reached out to grab it, glaring at the man still holding his arm. He wrenched it again, this time getting free of the man's grasp. "Thank you." He quickly stuck to the badge to his shirt and turned around, walking the last few steps to room 314.

The door was closed, and he did not know what was behind it. Sheldon felt his fear and panic increase, but managed to choke it down, raise his hand up, and knock on the door.

* * *

Amy stared out the window beside her hospital bed. She could just make out the top of the mountains in the distance.

She supposed she should be a little more worried about her current situation, but she couldn't seem to find it in her to care. She also supposed that could be one of the effects of the high dose of morphine they had given her for the pain.

Amy couldn't quite believe her luck…or lack there-of. She was supposed to be giving a lecture in two days. Geneva was supposed to be a fun experience.

Amy chuckled humorlessly. While she couldn't classify her first twenty-four hours in Geneva as "fun", she could certainly say they were interesting. Somehow, since arriving just yesterday, she had managed to get stuck in an elevator with her ex-boyfriend (whom she had not seen or spoken with in over seven months), listen to a series of wonderful lectures, have hot chocolate in a ski lodge, and slip going down the slightly icy stairs, breaking her femur and tibia.

She turned her head away from the window to look at her leg, currently covered in a cast from hip to ankle, hanging in a sling.

So now here she was, in a hospital in Geneva, which she was almost certain her insurance would not cover, awaiting the improbable arrival of her "emergency contact".

When asked who her emergency contact was, Amy had had little choice but to list Sheldon, the only person in Geneva that she knew.

Amy frowned when she suddenly heard a commotion outside her door. Either the morphine was affecting her hearing, or it was Sheldon. Amy listened as the voices remained heated, until a third voice entered the mix and everyone grew quiet.

Amy began wondering if Sheldon had been escorted away, when she heard a knock on her door.

She paused, not quite sure she was ready to face Sheldon again.

"Come in," she said, tentatively.

The door opened slowly, revealing Sheldon in the doorway. He didn't enter, but his eyes immediately went to her cast and he blanched, grabbing the doorframe with one hand. She watched him swallow and put his hand up to his chest, much like she had seen him do the night before.

Amy wondered at the gesture.

She also wondered that he had shown up at all. And one might also take his blanching to mean that he had been worried about her.

Amy couldn't help but scoff at herself. More likely he was simply realizing that his life and schedule would now be interrupted by the need to see that she was able to make it to her flight on time. Amy felt her stomach clench at the thought. She didn't want to have to rely on Sheldon for anything.

Amy continued to stare at him, wondering if he was going to speak, or if he would continue to stand there, silently, in the doorway.

Before she could find out which it would be, however, Amy's doctor came up behind Sheldon. "Pardon, Monsier." Sheldon blinked and moved out of the way. The doctor smiled warmly at Amy. "And 'ow are you doing now, Amy?"

"I believe the morphine is doing its job," she replied. "I don't feel any pain…and I am feeling much less anxiety than I would expect, given my current situation."

The doctor nodded. "Ah, yes. Zat is normal." The doctor looked over at Sheldon, who had taken a couple of steps into the room, all but hugging the wall next to the door. "And is zis your friend?"

Sheldon flicked his eyes over to Amy, who felt her stomach clench again. He cleared his throat. "I am her emergency contact, yes."

The doctor smiled at Sheldon. "Amy 'as told me zat you are ze only person she knows in Genève."

Sheldon flicked his eyes over to Amy again. "Yes. That is correct."

"In zat case, I will tell ze both of you zat we are going to be keeping Amy here over night, but she will be free to return to 'er 'otel tomorrow."

Amy cleared her throat, causing both the doctor and Sheldon to look at her. "I have a lecture I am supposed to give in two days. Will I be able to do so?"

The doctor shrugged. "I cannot say 'ow ze morphine will affect your ability to give a lecture, but if we assume zat zere are accommodations made for a wheelchair, zen I don't see 'ow it will be a problem."

"And I am supposed to fly back to California in six days. That won't be a problem will it?"

The doctor gave her a sympathetic look. "Oh…I am afraid zat will not be possible. You will 'ave ze cast on for at least eight weeks and I would not suggest you fly until after ze cast 'as been removed."

Amy blinked at the doctor. "What? Why can't I fly? Surely I can't be the first person with a cast to fly on an airplane."

"If zis were a flight which only lasted a few hours zen it might be possible. But given ze length of ze flight, I am afraid you will need to remain in Genève until ze cast can be removed."

Amy closed her eyes and leaned her head back against her pillow. She was going to be stuck in Geneva for eight weeks? No amount of morphine could keep her from worrying about how she was going to pay for a hotel for two months, on top of the time off she would be taking from work, and the cost of a night's stay in an international hospital. And how was she going to get around in a wheel chair? She would have to go out for every meal…which would cost even more money.

She opened her eyes again. "I cannot do that. There must be something you can do."

The doctor gave her another sympathetic look. "Even if zere was, your leg will be sticking straight out in front of you. I do not believe zere would be a seat available which would allow enough room." The doctor looked over at Sheldon. "But surely accommodations can be made. Your friend will not leave you alone will he?"

Amy glanced at Sheldon, who was white and who did not answer the question. The doctor frowned, looking confused, and then glanced back at Amy. He cleared his throat. "Yes, well. You will stay here for ze night, but you will be free to go back to your 'otel tomorrow. Otherwise, everything looks good."

Amy sighed. "Thank you, doctor."

The doctor took one last look at Sheldon and then walked out the door.

Amy looked at Sheldon, wondering what he was thinking. He was still backed against the wall, as if he were trying to stay as far away from her as possible. She saw him swallow as his eyes flicked in the general direction of her leg, and then directly at her.

He cleared his throat, now staring at the floor. "I am relieved to see that no…life threatening harm has befallen you."

Amy blinked at him, slightly taken aback. "Thank you."

Sheldon began inching his way towards the door. "Now that I can see that you are in no immediate danger, I think it would be best for me to leave."

Amy didn't answer, watching Sheldon fidget in the doorway, one hand still on his chest. He glanced at her again, before speaking in the general direction of the floor. "I shall arrive here tomorrow to help escort you back to the hotel."

Amy raised her eyebrows, surprised by Sheldon's statement. "I can take a cab. They may be scarce, but I believe if you call for one, they can be had."

Sheldon nodded. "Very well, I will call for a cab. That will be preferable to a tram, especially given that you will be in a wheel chair."

Amy stared. "No…I meant I don't need for you to escort me back to the hotel."

Sheldon frowned and then looked at her. "Don't be ridiculous. You will be in a wheelchair, and likely in pain. As it is also likely that you have never had to navigate a wheelchair before, it is unlikely that you would be able to do so, well, at this time. It makes much more sense for me to escort you to the hotel and up to your room. And as I previous stated you will be in pain, I will be able to bring you dinner for the evening. We can decide how best to arrange things at that time."

Amy frowned. The last thing she wanted was to spend an extended amount of time with Sheldon…

She looked down at her leg. But it would appear she had little choice in the matter. At least not if she wanted to be able to rest, and not spend all of her time attempting to get from her room to a restaurant and back every day.

Amy sighed and looked back at Sheldon, who was frowning at her. "Very well. I shall see you tomorrow then."

Sheldon nodded and then quickly turned around and walked out the door.

* * *

Sheldon walked into the human resources office and strode to the desk.

"I will be needing to change my request for a change of hotel," he said, without ceremony.

The person at the desk gave him a look, and then buzzed another office.

Out walked the man who had been "helping" Sheldon yesterday. "Doctor Cooper, I have told you that trying to avoid an ex-girlfriend is not a good enough reason to expedite your request."

Sheldon frowned. "I would beg to differ, but I have a change in my request, and this time I will not accept anything but expediency."

The man opened his mouth and then closed it, shaking his head and gesturing for Sheldon to enter his office.

Sheldon walked through the door, but did not sit down in the chair in front of the desk.

"Please Doctor Cooper, sit down."

Sheldon shook his head. "No. I won't be long."

The man sighed and sat down behind his desk, clasping his hands on top. "And how might I be able to help you today?"

"I need to change my request for a change of hotel to include a suite instead of a single person room. Preferably with two separate bedrooms. And I will need the request to be expedited due to the need to accommodate a person with medical issues, whom I will be caring for."

The man frowned. "Doctor Cooper, we cannot authorize allocation of funds for a suite so that you can greatly decrease the amount of work you are doing here in order to care for a person with medical issues."

Sheldon sighed, exasperated. "Please. My work will not suffer, and I will not take no for an answer. It is extremely important that the request be put through as quickly as possible. Now if you'll excuse me, my work day started three minutes ago."

Without waiting for a reply, Sheldon walked out the door and down to his office.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. :) I don't speak a word of French, but if google translator can be trusted, then the nurse yelled "Somebody stop that man!" ;)**


	10. Determination

**A/N: Thank you for the reprieve. And for all your wonderful reviews. They were greatly appreciated. :)**

* * *

Sheldon strode into his office, placed his bag in its spot, and then stood in front of his whiteboard. He stared at the equations, unseeing. He attempted to focus but the numbers and letters kept blurring. He had slept very little the previous night.

Sheldon felt the pain in his chest, and closed his eyes, placing one hand over the pain. Even since he had visited the hospital, the pain had been ever present. He opened his eyes and walked over to his desk to sit down. He closed his eyes again as his mind was flooded with images of the previous evening.

_Sheldon slowly opened the hospital door, unsure of what he would find inside. His eyes were immediately drawn to the cast which enveloped…Amy's entire leg. He felt himself get lightheaded, and grabbed the doorpost for support. He felt an emotion he could not place start to register, but he immediately squashed it. The pain in his chest, which he had previously thought cured, returned and he absentmindedly put a hand over the spot. _

Sheldon shook his head to clear it, standing up again, and walking back to the whiteboard. He picked up the black marker and tapped it to his chin as he contemplated the equations.

_"I am afraid you will need to remain in Genève until ze cast can be removed," the doctor said. Sheldon looked over at…Amy, who closed her eyes and laid her head back on her pillow. He looked down at his arms as one of them twitched in her direction. Sheldon swallowed hard and clenched his fists together. He could hear…Amy and the doctor talking, but ignored them, instead focusing on continuing to squash whatever emotion it was that kept attempting surface. _

_Sheldon's ears picked up the doctor saying "Your friend will not leave you alone will he?" and looked over at her. She glanced in his direction a moment later and Sheldon felt the pain in his chest intensify. She was going to be in Geneva for eight weeks. And he was the only person she knew. And she was going to be a in a wheel chair, which would likely mean an inability to maneuver the streets of Geneva without aid. _

_Before Sheldon realized it, the doctor had left, leaving him alone with…Amy. He glanced down at her leg, feeling faint at the sight of it in a full cast, wondering if she was in pain. He swallowed and then looked over at…Amy. She was watching him. _

_He couldn't hold her gaze and dropped it. He supposed now was the time to say something. _

_"I am relieved to see that no…life threatening harm has befallen you."_

_"Thank you," she said. _

_Sheldon felt his arms twitch towards her again, along with another intense dose of pain in his chest. He had to get out of there. He started inching his way to the door, eager to leave._

_ "Now that I can see that you are in no immediate danger, I think it would be best for me to leave."_

_As he continued to inch towards the door, he inexplicably heard his mother's voice in his head, telling him that the gentlemanly thing to do would be to return and escort…Amy back to her hotel when she was discharged. But he didn't want to be near…Amy. Now that he knew she was in no immediate danger, he did not wish to be in her presence. She had left him. _

_But with each shuffle towards the door, his mother's voice got louder in his head._

_He glanced back in her direction and then quickly dropped his gaze. "I shall arrive here tomorrow to help escort you back to the hotel."_

Sheldon suddenly snapped back to reality, scolding himself for allowing his mind to drift. He took a step closer to the board, focusing on one specific part of the equation. Usually he preferred to stand more at a distance, to view the board as a whole, but today that approach did not seem to be working. Perhaps if he were to stand closer, the necessity of having to have his eyes roam around the board would help hold his focus.

He frowned. He did not like that he was losing focus. Ever since…that day in which she had left him, his mind had been focused completely. He had been able to throw himself into his work, without even the most minor of distractions. He would not allow himself to lose focus now. Not when he was so close; making so much progress.

Sheldon balled his fists at his sides and squeezed his eyes shut. _I cannot let this distract me,_ he thought. But even as he thought it, the image of Amy in a hospital bed entered his mind, causing his breath to catch and his chest pain to return.

* * *

"Leonard, I'm not over reacting!" Penny said, sounding frustrated. Leonard watched her pace in front of him.

"Just…Calm down," he said.

When Leonard had woken up this morning, Penny had already been awake, which was…unusual. He had opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, when she all but shouted, "Sheldon and Amy are in the same hotel and they got stuck in an elevator together and I emailed Amy to Skype me as soon as she got my message, but it's already been two hours and she hasn't called yet!"

It had taken Leonard a few moments to let the verbal assault sink into his brain. But when it did he had frowned. "How did they end up in a hotel together? The odds of that happening are astronomical."

Penny had put a hand to her forehead. "Leonard, if I knew that, I wouldn't be freaking out! Can you imagine what this is going to do to Amy? She was starting to actually move on. Now she's stuck in the same hotel with her ex-boyfriend, who, by the way happens to be totally off his rocker."

Leonard had sighed at that. He hadn't seen Amy too often in the past seven months, so he couldn't comment on her state, but he knew for sure that Sheldon was, as Penny said, "off his rocker". Leonard hated to think what direct contact with Amy might do to his roommate.

He had looked over at Penny then, and had walked over to give her a hug. "Look, I'm sure she just hasn't gotten the message yet. Who knows, maybe the hotel doesn't even have wi-fi. We've only heard from Sheldon the one time."

Penny hadn't looked very convinced. Leonard supposed that, Sheldon and Amy aside, Penny had had the hardest time out of all of them with the Shamy breakup. Sure Leonard felt for Amy, but he couldn't say that he was exactly close or had spent much time with her alone, aside from that one wedding they had attended together. But Amy was Penny's best friend…or at the very least Penny was Amy's best friend (he wasn't quite sure how that all worked), and Sheldon was…well, whatever Sheldon was to Penny, they were as close as one could expect someone to be with Sheldon. Leonard supposed that after himself, Penny was Sheldon's next closest friend…not that Sheldon was currently acknowledging that either Penny or Leonard was his friend at all at the moment.

So, given the situation, it was probably reasonable to expect Penny to freak out…after all, there was a good chance that Sheldon was having another meltdown, and Amy (from what he had heard from Penny) was probably sitting in her hotel room in a bed soaked with her own tears.

Leonard had kissed Penny on the nose then. "Just give her until tonight. If she doesn't call by then…well…we can always try to Skype with Sheldon."

Penny had sighed. "Fine…but I still think something is really wrong."

But she had agreed to wait. She had gone back to her apartment and had called in to work. Leonard had thought long and hard about whether or not to call in as well, but eventually had decided to play hookie, calling in with a fake asthma attack. They had spent the day watching t.v., with Penny frequently looking over at her computer.

Now it was dinner time and Penny had just screamed at him when he suggested they go get dinner. Leonard thought his girlfriend was being a touch melodramatic, but he had at least learned enough to know not to tell her that. Instead he walked over and patted her on the back.

"You're right. I'm sorry. You're not over-reacting."

Penny gave Leonard a look. Perhaps he had come across a tad condescending.

Penny shrugged away from Leonard and walked quickly over to her computer. "That's it, I'm Skyping Sheldon. Something weird is going on here. I can feel it."

Leonard walked over and sat down next to his girlfriend. In truth, he was a little worried about Sheldon…and Amy. It wasn't like Amy not to immediately contact Penny when Penny asked her to.

Unfortunately, Sheldon never answered. Penny tried Skyping Amy, even though Leonard secretly thought it was pointless to try since they probably just didn't have wifi, but also got no answer. Penny sat back, looking worried. Leonard sat back as well and looked over at her.

"Why don't you just send an email to Sheldon, and maybe another one to Amy? One of them is bound to get the email and then email you back. Then you'll see that there's probably nothing to worry about…" Leonard trailed off half-heartedly, thinking of how Sheldon would be handling an encounter with Amy in close quarters. When Penny looked over at him, he tried to put on a bright smile. From the look on Penny's face, however, he wondered if he came across more like the Joker.

Penny sighed. "Fine. I guess that's all I can do…wait." Penny suddenly looked over at Leonard, grabbing his arm. "Didn't Sheldon leave the number to the hotel? We can call it!"

"Penny…do you have any idea how much it would cost to call Geneva?"

"Leonard! This is important!"

Leonard looked at Penny, but knew as soon as he saw her pleading look that he was going to give in. He grabbed the phone. "Fine." He handed it to her and stood up. "Let me go find the number."

He found the number in the packet Sheldon had left him before his trip. "Here," he said, pointing at the number so Penny could dial it. She put the phone up to her ear and waited. "Yes, I'd like the room for Amy Farrah Fowler please."

She waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, just as Leonard was about to suggest she hang up, Penny started speaking. "Amy? Where are you? Why haven't you returned my email? I've been waiting all day. I just want to make sure you're ok!...Call me!" and she then hung up.

"So…I take it she wasn't there?"

Penny shook her head, already redialing. "Hi. I'd like the room for Sheldon Cooper please."

And again Leonard watched as she waited…and waited…and waited. Then, "Sheldon, this is Penny. I know Amy is there. Please call me…or Leonard. One of us. Just call!"

Penny hung up the phone and then just sat there. Leonard walked over. "Penny, I really think you're worrying over nothing. They're both probably just busy. You don't even have any more information other than they're in the same hotel and they got stuck in an elevator together. Amy didn't sound like she was upset…at least it didn't read like that."

Penny gave him a look. "Please. I can tell. She was upset."

Leonard sighed. "Well…there's nothing else we can do now…" Leonard started to run a finger over Penny's collarbone. "You know…while we wait…"

Penny gave him a look of disgust. Leonard cleared his throat, dropping his hand and grabbing the remote. "Right. So…" he sighed. "More _Sex and the City_ then?"

* * *

Amy had spent the entire night in her hospital bed awake. Not only could she not get to sleep with her leg in the air, but even if she had been able to sleep, the nurse had come in so often to check on her that she was certain little sleep would have been had. So now she was exhausted, on top of being in pain. The morphine seemed to work much better when it was a drip, rather than a pill. And that's not to mention the extreme awkwardness she felt being in a wheelchair with her leg sticking straight out in front of her.

As much as she was loath to admit it, perhaps Sheldon coming to pick her up was a good thing. She wasn't sure she'd be able to do make it back to the hotel on her own.

And loath to admit it she was. Amy did not like the thought of relying on Sheldon for anything. For so many months she had been consumed with thoughts about him. Even when dating Stuart…_especially_ when she had been dating Stuart. In fact, she was pretty sure that Penny's idea of getting over someone by dating someone else was, well…wrong. The only time Amy had really felt like she was returning to normal was the month after Stuart had broken up with her and before she had inexplicably found herself in an elevator with Sheldon. And now she was being forced to rely on the last person she wanted to rely on.

She had spent most of her waking hours since Sheldon had left trying to decide if she was angry or sad…or just lonely.

When she had initially found out that Sheldon was moving to Geneva, she had been angry. Some part of her had hoped that he would…not fail exactly…but at least discover that he needed more than work to keep him satisfied. So it had felt like a blow when he had instead thrived without her presence.

But she wasn't sure if she was still angry with him. In fact, she just wasn't sure of much anymore. Before she had left Pasadena, she had thought she was getting over Sheldon. But now that she had been in his presence, she could see that her belief that she had successfully started on the path to moving on had been tenuous at best. All throughout the night she had felt equal amounts of anger, sadness, and pure longing. And this was only at the thought of him picking her up from the hospital.

Amy signed the last of the paperwork releasing her, and then asked the nurse to wheel her to the door. She would wait for Sheldon there.

* * *

As Sheldon walked from the tram stop up to the hospital, he kept reminding himself of his reasons for helping…Amy. He had spent the entire previous night alternately cursing the situation, and trying to resolve it. He had thought through many scenarios of how he could avoid spending copious amounts of time with…Amy. But no matter how much he tried to think of ways around it, he always came back to the image of Amy in the hospital bed with her leg in the air, looking…vulnerable.

Sheldon swallowed as he recalled the image again, and put his hand back to his chest, feeling the pain intensify.

Every time he had told himself that he would merely do the bare minimum for…Amy, the image of her hospital bed had popped into his head, and his hand would suddenly twitch.

He had wondered briefly about the twitch, but had decided he didn't care enough to examine the root cause. He normally would have made a doctor's appointment to make sure it was alright, but after the previous doctors had all insisted his chest pain was due to emotional stress, Sheldon had come to the conclusion that those of the trade weren't as smart as he had previously given them credit for. Likely they would give him the same spiel for the twitch.

Once he had reconciled the fact that he would be forced to help…Amy, Sheldon had come to the unfortunate conclusion that he would be hard pressed to do so if they were in different hotel rooms on different floors. It simply was not practical. As much as he found the idea of sharing a room, or suite, with…Amy abhorrent, it only made sense for them to be within close quarters.

Sheldon stopped walking, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking at the hospital across the street from him.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't be in close quarters with…Amy. He _wouldn't_ do it! Sheldon felt the beginnings of a panic attack. He had foolishly convinced himself the evening prior that he would be able to handle the situation. He had reminded himself that he was in control of his emotions and that he would continue to be in control of them even while taking care of…Amy.

Sheldon turned on his heel, ready to head back towards the tram stop, when he again heard his mother's voice in his head, reminding him of what a true southern gentleman does when a lady is in distress. He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he could eradicate his mother's voice from his head. But no matter how much he tried to think of something else, the image of Amy in a hospital bed was the only thing he could think of.

Sheldon opened his eyes. "Fine," he said aloud. He turned back around. _You can do this. You can control your emotions. You feel nothing._

He took a deep breath and then scolded himself for allowing his emotions to overwhelm him. He was going to have to redouble his efforts. Spock would not be proud.

He started walking across the street. When he reached the door, he strode inside, and immediately spotted…Amy by the door. The sight of her in a wheelchair again caused his chest to hurt and his hand to twitch.

He swallowed and walked forward. "Are you prepared?"

Amy looked at him, merely nodding. He walked around to the back of the wheelchair. "I called the cab prior to arriving here. It is currently waiting."

Sheldon pushed the wheelchair forward, looking down at…Amy's head as she nodded but again said nothing.

Sheldon flinched as Amy's hair brushed his hand as he wheeled her outside. He mentally scolded himself. He could do this. He _would_ do this. And he would not let his emotions rule him.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! :)**


	11. Awkward Encounter

**A/N: Thank you as always for the reviews. The support I have gotten for this fic has been truly amazing and I thank you very much for it. :)**

* * *

As Sheldon wheeled Amy towards the waiting cab, she took a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath. She was very aware of just how close Sheldon was, walking behind her, and she found the proximity…unnerving. She didn't like it, but she was also very aware that she had best get used to it because, like it or not, she was likely going to be in relative close proximity to Sheldon on a regular basis for the next eight weeks.

Sheldon stopped beside the door of the cab, which the driver proceeded to open. Amy looked towards the car seat, feeling that it might as well be a million miles away for as much chance as she had of reaching it on her own. Amy glanced up at Sheldon, but he appeared to be looking elsewhere. She would get no help from him it seemed. She thought for a moment about simply asking for his help, but she found that the idea chaffed.

Instead, Amy put both hands on the arms of the wheelchair and pushed upwards, attempting to stand on one leg just long enough to twist around and attempt to enter the vehicle. But before she could begin to hop-twist around, she felt herself losing her balance. She started falling forward, quickly noting to herself that she was still too far away from the entrance to fall un-gracefully into the backseat, but unsure of how to stop her momentum. She tried grabbing the door frame, but only succeeded in twisting herself around so that she would fall on her back instead of her face.

The pain in her leg caused Amy to cry out. She heard a gasp and suddenly the wheelchair was gone, replaced by Sheldon, who placed both hands under her arms and pulled her upright. As she was hoisted upwards, Amy unconsciously let go of the doorframe and grabbed Sheldon's arms for support.

Only when she was fully upright did she realize how close they were, her face not even a foot away from his rapidly rising and falling chest. And Sheldon still had his hands under her arms. She looked up at him and then frowned. He was looking upwards, rather than down towards her, as if the very idea that he was forced to touch her was repellent. The realization hurt more than it should. After all, she was not any happier than he was with the situation.

She dropped her hands from his arms, which left them hanging awkwardly at her side as Sheldon's hands were still holding her up by the armpits. She didn't say anything, instead waiting to see how he would respond, feeling slightly resentful at the situation even though she knew she should be grateful. Likely due to the realization that she was getting heavy, Sheldon looked down at her. Amy looked at him, but said nothing, again waiting to see what he would do.

Without saying anything, Sheldon shifted his hands so that he could more easily help her into the vehicle. As he did so, he frowned at the cab driver.

"A little assistance would be nice. I can see that your mother failed to teach you proper manners."

Amy glanced at the cab driver, who had his mouth open in confusion, thinking of the irony that Sheldon was yelling at the man before her when he himself had failed to offer her help until absolutely needed. She became aware of shouting voices and looked back to see hospital personnel running in their direction. Apparently what had felt like several minutes to Amy had in fact only been several seconds.

Two nurse's aides arrived, one walking around to the opposite side of the car and opening the door.

Sheldon glared over Amy's head. "I can see that the staff of this hospital is incompetent, since they did not see fit to make sure that their patient made it safely into the vehicle before discharging her."

Amy heard the aide say to her in accented English, "I am going to grab you from behind now," and felt arms pulling her into the car. As soon as she was being pulled backwards, Sheldon let go of her and gingerly held her cast up for her. Amy winced at the throbbing pain in her leg. She would need to take a good dose of morphine by the time she made it back to the hotel. She glanced towards Sheldon to find him looking at her with a slight frown on his face.

The aide managed to buckle Amy into one side of the car, even though she was sitting sideways, while Sheldon set her legs on the seat next to her.

Amy took a deep breath and said, "Thank you for the help."

Sheldon's eyes flicked towards her as he suddenly dropped his hands from her legs, nodded at her, and backed away without a word, one arm clutching the middle of his chest. Amy frowned, again wondering why Sheldon kept grabbing his chest. He had not done that when they had been dating.

Sheldon shut the door and got into the front seat. He buckled his seatbelt and stared forward as they waited for the driver to load Amy's borrowed wheelchair, as well as a pair of crutches, into the trunk of the car.

Amy cocked her head to the side, watching Sheldon. In her present location she could see the profile of his face. She saw that his eyes were closed and his jaw was clenched. She wondered at the fact that he had only yelled one sentence at the driver, and had made only the one comment to the hospital staff. In the past, she knew that any slight error could cause several minutes of angry yelling by Sheldon. She wondered at the reason behind this change. She had assumed that his lack of speech to her, both in the hospital and in the elevator, had been motivated by the awkwardness associated with running into an ex. But now she wasn't so sure.

The driver entered the vehicle and asked "where to?" Sheldon gave the driver the name of the hotel and they proceeded to speed off. Amy continued to watch Sheldon. He gripped his seatbelt with one hand, and the car door with the other. She frowned in confusion when he only made one comment about reckless driving to the driver and then sat in the seat with his eyes closed for the remainder of the car ride. Something was most definitely different.

When they arrived at the hotel, they were forced to confront the fact that they still had to get Amy out of the car. After several minutes of silence, in which the driver repeatedly tried to make a suggestion only to be shushed by Sheldon, Amy spoke up.

"Perhaps it would be easiest to position the wheelchair behind me. That way with a little help, I could scoot out and right into the chair."

Sheldon glanced at Amy, then behind her, presumably at the car door, and back towards the front.

"Yes. I think that will work." He turned towards the driver. "We will require your assistance."

The driver nodded and got out to get the wheelchair. While he set it up, Amy unbuckled her seatbelt and Sheldon walked around, opening both the door where her leg was, and the one directly behind her. Amy heard Sheldon direct the driver to the end where her legs were, to help hold her it steady as she scooted backwards.

"Alright, the wheelchair is positioned behind you. I have on the breaks, so it should remain stable."

Amy started to scoot backwards, wincing at each stabbing pain in her leg with the movement. She glanced behind her, Sheldon looking at her with a blank expression, but with a tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows. She put her hands on top of the doorframe to help pull herself backwards. The cab driver did a fairly good job of keeping her leg stable, for which Amy was grateful. Once she had scooted as far back as she could in the car seat, Amy looked behind her. Even with the wheelchair positioned so close to the car seat, it was still too far back for her to reach on her own.

She closed her eyes and said, "I won't be able to reach it on my own, it's too far back."

Amy heard no response. She looked at the driver, finding him biting his lip in concentration, probably looking for a way to help…unlike Sheldon apparently.

Amy jumped as, suddenly, Sheldon's voice was right next to her ear. He appeared to be speaking to the driver. "I am going to need you to keep her leg perfectly straight."

Amy turned her head, startled when Sheldon's face was mere inches from her own. He jerked back, hitting the top of his head on the doorframe on his way out.

She looked back at him, frowning in confusion. "What are you going to do?"

Amy saw Sheldon swallow. "I'm going to attempt to…pick you up and place you in the chair."

Amy stared at him. "Are you sure you can do that?"

Sheldon didn't answer her. Strictly speaking, Amy was wondering if he could _physically_ pick her up, but admittedly there was a part of her who wondered if he could emotionally handle touching her. He certainly hadn't enjoyed touching her when they were dating, and now they were…definitely not dating.

She watched as Sheldon clenched his fists and then opened them wide. He had his eyes closed, and she wondered what he was thinking. He swallowed and then opened his eyes, glancing down at her and then quickly away.

"Are you ready?"

Amy nodded, and then realized that he couldn't see her. "Yes."

"Very well."

Amy looked at the driver and was just getting ready to tell him to keep a good hold on her leg when she felt Sheldon's arms touching her. Not in a strong, comforting way. More in a try-to-touch-you-as-little-as-possible way.

She could feel his breath on her ear as she turned slightly to wrap her arms around his neck. She closed her eyes, both liking and disliking the feeling of his hands at her waist and under her legs. The pain wasn't helping the situation either. She felt Sheldon start to ease her out of the car, back towards the wheelchair. He seemed to almost stumble a couple of times, and his grip on her tightened as more of her weight fell on him.

Amy opened her eyes, seeing the cab driver now holding her leg while crawling through the back seat. She moved her eyes up to Sheldon, but his head appeared to be turned towards the seat behind her. He was moving very slowly, but when it came time to place her in the chair, it would appear his physical strength (or perhaps emotional) gave out and Amy fell into the chair, jarring her leg.

She yelped out in pain, gripping the arms of the chair. She looked over at Sheldon to see his face unnervingly close and his eyes wide. He stood up quickly and simply said, "I apologize," while again placing his hand on his chest. Amy merely nodded in response.

Now that she was safely in her chair, the driver set about getting the rest of her stuff over to her. And after paying the driver, Sheldon proceeded to wheel Amy up to her room. She avoided closing her eyes, as the whole ordeal, coupled with her sleepless night, had rendered her exhausted, and she was afraid she might fall asleep in the elevator.

Sheldon wheeled her to the elevator and then stopped. But he didn't push the button. Amy could guess as to the reason why.

"It is not likely that we will get stuck once again in the elevator. I used it myself yesterday morning, and it seemed fine."

Sheldon glanced down at her and then looked at the button. "Just because something seems fine does not mean that it is."

"Do you have an alternative for how to get me up to my room?"

Sheldon pursed his lips, balled one hand at his side, and used the other to push the button. When the doors opened, he again paused.

Amy sighed. "If you wait too long the doors will close. I have had an exhausting few days and would like nothing more than to go to bed."

Sheldon sighed and then wheeled her into the elevator. She pushed the button for her floor and they rode up in silence. When the doors opened, Amy was pushed so quickly out of the elevator that her head jerked back.

"Which room?" he asked. Amy told him the number and he wheeled her down the hallway to her room, taking the key from her and opening the door. He wheeled her inside and stopped beside the bed.

Amy looked up at him, frowning in confusion.

"You did say you were tired, did you not?" Sheldon asked.

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Yes. But I would like to brush my teeth prior to going to bed."

Sheldon nodded and wheeled her into the bathroom. He left her there and walked back out to the living area. Amy brushed her teeth, and, as the sink was a little too high, spit her toothpaste in the toilet. Thankfully, she managed to turn on the water and get a handful to rinse her mouth out with.

Then, since she was in there, she decided she should attempt to use the restroom. She might as well figure out how to do it now. Using upper body strength she was fairly certain she didn't have, she managed to sit herself on the toilet and then get back into the chair afterwards, feeling exhausted yet proud. Amy then attempted to wheel herself out backwards out of the bathroom, wondering if Sheldon was even still there.

But as soon as she started out the door, he was there to wheel her back to the bed. He locked the wheelchair in place, and made a move towards her. Amy held up a hand.

"I think I can do this on my own," Amy said. "I just need your hand to pull me upright and to pull my leg up onto the bed."

Sheldon nodded, gingerly holding out his hand. Amy grabbed it, but when she attempted to pull herself upright, Sheldon nearly fell forward onto her. He used his hands to grab the sides of her wheelchair to stop himself from tumbling directly on her.

He straightened back up quickly and held his hand out again, not looking at her. Amy took a deep breath, grabbed it again, and this time met with enough resistance to pull herself into a quasi-standing position. She then hopped a little to turn herself around and sat back on the bed. Sheldon let go of her hand and grabbed her leg, swinging it onto the bed.

He paused and frowned at her.

"What?" she asked.

"You don't have your pajamas on."

Amy looked down at herself. "I can sleep in my clothes tonight."

Sheldon frowned but said nothing. There was no way she was going to ask him to help her change into pajamas. And she was far too tired to care about sleeping in her clothes, anyway.

Before Amy realized what was happening, Sheldon leaned forward and pulled the blankets down from underneath her. She blinked at him in shock, heart inexplicably racing, and then said, "Thank you."

Again he said nothing, merely nodding and starting to back away towards the door. "Do you require assistance with anything else?"

Amy shook her head, but then stopped. "Yes. Could you get my medicine and a glass of water please?"

Sheldon nodded and complied, setting the bottle and glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Will you be needing dinner provided?"

Amy shook her head again. "No. I would prefer to just sleep."

Sheldon nodded and said, "Very well."

He then walked out the door, glancing back at her once.

Amy let out a sigh of relief. Now that she was alone, she felt a wave of fatigue hit her. She opened her medicine bottle, taking out a pill and swallowing it.

As she shut off the light, Amy noticed the light on the phone blinking, indicating she had a message. But she no more than wondered who would be calling and leaving her a message than she was fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. :)**


	12. Reality

**A/N: As always, you all are amazing. Thank you for being awesome. :)**

* * *

After leaving Amy's room, Sheldon walked as quickly as he could back to his own, wanting to get as far away as possible. The entire ordeal of getting her from the hospital to her room had been a nightmare.

He walked through the door, set down his bag, and began pacing the length of the room. How on earth was he going to be able to help…Amy on a regular basis? It had taken all the mental capacity, earned from his years of Kohlinar training, not to run in the opposite direction from the moment he had been forced to touch her. Sheldon felt his hands twitch at the memory of her near fall. He clenched his fists together, wondering if perhaps he should see a doctor about the sudden tick in his hands. In the past twenty-four hours his hands had twitched several times.

But that was not the worst of it. No, the worst was that he had very little doubt that he would be forced into many similar situations while helping Amy in the coming weeks. He would likely be forced to touch her frequently. Sheldon stopped pacing, clenching his fists again as his hands started to tingle. He also found it very hard to swallow and his chest pain returned. He wondered if perhaps he was having a panic attack.

As he was contemplating the likelihood that he was currently panicking, Sheldon's eyes fell on the telephone and he realized the message light was blinking. He frowned and walked over to the phone, hand still on his chest, wondering who had called him. The last time he had had a message, it had been the nurse from the hospital telling him Amy had been in an accident. His breath hitched and he quickly added shortness of breath his list of symptoms leading to a panic attack.

Sheldon hesitantly reached for the phone and listened to the message. He let out a breath when he realized it was merely Penny. She sounded upset. He blinked. Why was she upset? So far as he knew, she knew nothing about Amy's accident.

After the end of the message, Sheldon set the phone back on the cradle, wondering if he should call her back, as her message had insisted. He did some quick math in his mind a realized it would be about mid-morning in Pasadena.

He also wondered if Penny would even be home. He didn't want to make a long distance call if he was uncertain if the person he was intending to speak with was even at home. In fact…he didn't really want to talk to anyone in Pasadena…

Much to his frustration, however, Sheldon heard his mother's voice in his head again, telling him that Penny had sounded upset and it was his duty as a gentleman to ease her discomfort with a phone call.

But he didn't want to call. For one thing, it would cost an exorbitant amount of money to call Pasadena as he had used his last calling card to call his mother four days ago for the weekly update he had promised her. For another…he simply didn't want to call.

Sheldon looked around the room, feeling indecisive and surly, when his eyes fell on his computer. Perhaps Skyping would be his best option. It would allow him to save money at the very least…

He walked over to the small desk and sat down in front of his computer, calling Penny. She picked up almost immediately.

"Sheldon! Thank god!" Penny looked as if she hadn't taken a shower in a couple of days, along with having a look in her eyes which Sheldon could only describe as "crazy".

He frowned, confused at her disheveled appearance and frantic eyes. "You appear upset."

"That's because I am!"

Sheldon blinked. "Why are you upset?"

Penny also frowned, moving her face closer to the screen. "Why _aren't_ you upset?"

Sheldon paused, unsure what Penny was referring to. "Why would I be upset?"

"Well…" Penny paused. "Amy is there, right?"

Sheldon blinked, confused by Penny's question. "As her friend, I should think you would already know that information."

"Well yeah, but…" She lowered her voice. "Didn't you get stuck in an elevator with her?"

"Why are you whispering?" Sheldon was already regretting his decision to contact Penny. He had nearly "forgotten" how annoying conversations with her could be.

Penny straightened up. "I don't know…" She frowned again. "Seriously…why aren't you freaking out?"

"Why would I be freaking out?"

Penny sighed. "Why are you answering every question with a question?"

Sheldon blinked at the screen. "Because I'm confused by your line of questioning."

"Well stop."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "I can't stop if you don't clarify the situation."

Penny rolled her eyes in return. "I forgot how frustrating it is to talk to you."

Sheldon pressed his lips together. "The feeling is mutual, I assure you."

Penny sighed again, sounding exasperated.

Sheldon, growing tired of the current line of questioning, decided to expedite the conversation by changing the subject. "I believe you should know that…Amy has been in an accident, from which she suffered a broken leg."

Penny gasped. "Oh my god! Is she ok? What happened? Is that why she hasn't called me?"

Sheldon shrugged. "I can't say why she hasn't contacted you, although likely she was unable to access the internet while she remained at the hospital, and when I last left her, she was preparing to sleep. I don't believe she would have had time to recover from her jet lag prior to her accident."

"Wait, so she was in the hospital?" Penny asked, eyes big.

"Yes."

"It sounds like it was serious!"

Sheldon swallowed, unconsciously putting a hand to his chest. "Yes, I do believe it was. There were fractures which necessitated the use of a cast from her hip down to her ankle."

Penny's mouth dropped open. "Poor Amy." She looked back at Sheldon. "What happened?"

Sheldon shrugged. "I believe she slipped down the stairs."

Penny tapped her fingers on her chin. "Well I guess that explains why she hasn't called or emailed me back…"

"Yes…" Sheldon decided that, now that Penny had calmed down, he could terminate the conversation and continue on with his evening. He had some work he would like to be catching up on. "If that is all, I really should be going."

Penny held up a hand. "Wait!"

Sheldon frowned. "Yes?"

She gave Sheldon a look he could only describe as worried. "So, really…how are you doing?"

Sheldon blinked. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Why are you asking?"

"Well…because, Sweetie…Amy's your ex-girlfriend," Sheldon put his hand back up to his chest and pressed his lips together, "and well…It's been awhile since you've seen her."

"I don't see what that has to do with my well being."

Penny sighed. "Sheldon, come off it. We both know that Amy's breaking up with you was hard on you." She cocked her head to the side, looking sympathetic. "It's ok if you're having a hard time dealing."

Sheldon frowned. "I'm afraid you are mistaken…Amy's and my breakup was not hard on me. And I am having a perfectly fine time 'dealing', as you say."

Penny gave Sheldon a look. "Oh really…then tell me, genius, why is it every time I mention Amy, you put your hand on your chest?"

Sheldon swallowed. He did not like this conversation. Penny's logic was completely flawed. The data she had collected was inaccurate, as he had only put his hand to his chest one time when she mentioned…Amy's name, and, therefore, the number of incidents were too few for her to draw any kind of conclusion.

"Goodbye Penny."

"Wait! Sheldon, look, I'm sorry!"

Sheldon ignored Penny's pleas and closed the window.

* * *

"Damn," Penny said, out loud, looking at her blank screen. She probably shouldn't have said that last part. But god, Sheldon was so stubborn.

On the bright side, he wasn't having a psychotic breakdown…yet.

She frowned. Honestly, she was surprised. He had been surprisingly willing to talk to her…you know…for Sheldon. In fact, it had been he who had called her…_and_ he had actually told her about Amy breaking her leg.

Crap. Penny squeezed the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. Amy was stuck in Geneva with a broken leg, with no one but Sheldon around. This was not good. Even if Sheldon didn't have a psychotic breakdown, Amy was probably drowning in a puddle of tears on the floor. Penny had been around Amy enough in the past seven months to know she was _not_ emotionally stable right now, and Sheldon was the last person she needed to be around.

Penny got up and walked over to the phone, dialing Bernadette's number. As it rang, she glanced at the clock. Bernadette was probably at work. Penny wondered if she'd even answer her phone. She wasn't in the mood to leave another message with someone. She was sick and tired of messages.

Suddenly, Bernadette answered. Thank god.

"Hey, Penny," Bernadette said. "What's up?"

"Red alert." _Red alert? What has Leonard done to her?_

"What?"

"Um…nevermind. Listen, Amy ran into Sheldon."

Bernadette gasped. "No!"

"Yeah, they got stuck in an elevator together."

"Wow…that's really weird."

"Yeah, but that's not the end of it. She also broke her leg falling down some stairs."

"Oh no!" Bernadette gasped again. "Poor Amy. Is it bad? Will she be able to fly home?"

Penny paused. "Um…I don't know. Well, I mean, she has a cast on her whole leg, but I haven't talked to her yet."

"You haven't? Then how'd you find out? Did she email you?"

"No, I talked to Sheldon."

"Sheldon?"

"Yeah, I know, weird right? Although, I did call his hotel and tell him to call me."

"Why did you call his hotel?" Bernadette sounded confused.

Penny found herself getting a little defensive. "Well…because Amy wasn't calling me back. I sent her an email and left a message at her hotel room too, but she didn't respond. I was worried."

"Wait…if you didn't know about her leg, why were you worried?"

"Well, because she and Sheldon had gotten stuck in an elevator together…I mean…think about it. You've seen the two of them. Can you imagine what it was like in that elevator?"

Bernadette made a sound like she was inhaling through her teeth. "Yeah. Wow…So wait. How did you find out they were stuck in an elevator together?"

"Because Amy, emailed me."

"I thought you said she hadn't emailed you."

"No…well, I mean, yes, she did the first time to say that they were stuck in an elevator, but she didn't email me back after I told her to Skype me. So I got worried."

"So what did her email say?"

"Just that they were stuck in an elevator."

"So you don't know what happened?"

"No."

"So…why are we on red alert?"

Jeez. It was like talking with Leonard all over again.

"Because Sheldon and Amy are…around each other." Ok…hearing it out loud kind of made it sound lame, but seriously, the Shamy were both emotional train-wrecks. Sheldon always did that little hand-over-his-heart thing anytime someone mentioned Amy, and Penny was pretty sure she could fill a bathtub in all the tears Amy had shed in the past seven months. Clearly Penny wasn't over-reacting. This was a big deal.

"Well…isn't that a good thing?" Bernadette said.

"What?"

"Well…obviously being away from each other isn't helping. Maybe if they're forced together they'll work out their problems."

"Um, yeah…I don't think that ever works." It certainly wouldn't work for her…

"It worked for Howie and I."

"Uh, when exactly were you ever forced to hang out with Howard?"

"Well…when he was avoiding me at the Cheesecake Factory."

"Sweetie, he hid under the table. Not really the same thing."

"Well, the point is that it got both of us thinking. If we hadn't run back into each other, then I wouldn't be the wife of an astronaut. I don't know…I think this could be good for both Sheldon and Amy."

"Yeah, I don't think so. I think Amy's going to be worse than when she left and Sheldon…" Penny paused, remembering that Sheldon had seemed…not exactly "normal", but at least not worse.

Bernadette spoke up again. "We don't even know how Amy really is. Maybe we should hold off on the 'red alert' until we know how she's doing."

Penny was feeling defensive again. Why was she the only one freaking out? First Leonard, and now Bernadette. She sighed.

"Fine. Talk to you later."

"Call me when you talk to Amy."

"Ok."

"Bye."

Penny hung up, stuck between feeling better and still panicking. She thought about calling Amy again, but Sheldon had said she was going to sleep.

She walked back over to her couch and sat down. Ugh. All she could do was wait.

She looked at the clock and hopped back up. And get ready for work.

* * *

Amy sat at the ski-lodge, looking out the window, sipping her hot chocolate. The snow was swirling around outside the window, but that didn't seem to be bothering the skiers on the picturesque slopes.

She felt a hand lightly brush her face and turned. Sheldon was looking at her, his blue eyes staring straight into hers as he caressed her face gently, sweeping one finger underneath her eye. He pulled his hand away and held it out. On his finger sat a single eyelash.

"Make a wish," he said softly, looking at Amy with such intensity that she felt her heart start pounding and her stomach flip over.

Without breaking eye contact Amy slowly leaned forward and blew softly, sending the eyelash, along with her wish, out into the ether.

"What did you wish for?" Sheldon asked.

Amy responded softly. "That we could be together forever."

He didn't respond, except to grab her hand and bring it slowly to his lips. "We should get going." Without dropping her hand, he stood up, pulling her up with him. Amy grabbed his arm with her other hand and wanting to stay as close to him as she could. The room suddenly felt crowded and she was afraid she was going to be separated from him.

But they reached the doors without incident. Sheldon held it open for her and she shivered as she stepped out into the cold snow. The light was so bright it was almost dazzling, and the mountain view was breathtaking.

Amy felt Sheldon grab her hand again and pull her towards the steps. They started walking down, hand in hand, while Amy privately reveled in how happy she felt.

When they were halfway down the stairs, Amy felt her foot slip on an icy step and started to fall backward. But before she could hit the step behind her, Sheldon caught her, wrapping one arm around her waist, their faces mere inches apart. They stayed, staring into each other's eyes, for several moments, Amy's heart racing. Then, without a word, Sheldon gently brought his other arm under her legs and scooped her up, walking down the rest of the stairs carrying her in his arms. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he set her down gently, placing his hands at her waist.

"Please be more careful," he said, gazing into her eyes. "I wouldn't want you to break your leg. I don't know what I would do if some harm befell you." His voice had turned to almost a whisper as he gently leaned down to kiss her.

**_*Ring ring*_**

Amy jolted awake, thoroughly confused.

**_*Ring ring*_**

She put a hand over her racing heart, now realizing that she had been dreaming. She closed her eyes again, heart aching at the realization that none of what had just happened had been real.

**_*Ring ring*_**

She frowned as she finally comprehended that the ringing was coming from the telephone beside her bed. She looked at the clock as she picked up the phone. It was 6:15, but she wasn't sure if that was a.m. or p.m.

"Hello?"

"Will you please inform this completely unhelpful employee that it is necessary for him to provide me with a key to your room?"

Amy shook her head, feeling confused by the stark contrast of voice on the other end of the phone and the voice in her dream.

"Sheldon?"

"Yes."

Amy willed her dream addled brain to begin functioning. "Is it morning or evening?"

"It is morning. Now could you please inform this man that I will be needing a key to your room."

Amy's stomach dropped. "Why do you need a key to my room?"

"I would think that would be obvious. I cannot help you to your wheelchair if I cannot enter the room, and I cannot enter the room unless you are able to get into your wheelchair. The only solution, until other arrangements can be made, is for me to have a key to your room."

Amy blinked, still attempting to shake of the remnants of her dream. It would seem that she had slept the entire night through. The morphine must have done its job, as she had not awoken once from the pain. She looked down at herself, still dressed in her clothes from the evening prior. How was she going to get out of these things?

"Amy?"

She snapped her mind back to voice on the other end of the telephone. "Very well. Let me speak with him."

She heard the phone being passed.

"'ello, Mademoiselle."

"Good morning. Please if you could, give Doctor Cooper a key to my room. I now have a cast on my leg and will be needing his assistance."

The man on the other end sighed. "Very well, Mademoiselle."

Amy heard the phone being passed again.

"I will be up shortly."

"Ok."

Amy heard the line click.

She set the phone back on the cradle and lay her head back down, thinking about her dream. She closed her eyes as she thought of the look in Sheldon's eyes. He had loved her. He had wanted to protect her; not out of obligation because he was the only person she knew, but because he cared about her.

Her eyes snapped open. But life wasn't a dream. And she needed to remember that if she was ever going to have a chance of moving on.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. :)**

**Amy's Soundtrack: "You Go To My Head" by Diana Krall **


	13. Soft and Silky

**A/N: Thank you as always for the reviews. You have no idea how appreciated they are. :)**

* * *

Amy attempted to sit up in her bed in preparation for Sheldon's arrival. Using her hands to push herself up, she then began gingerly scooting backwards until her back was against the headboard, wincing at the pain in her leg.

She looked down at herself yet again, still wondering how she was going to change her clothes…or bathe. She frowned at this new thought. Given that her entire leg was enveloped by a cast, she would not be able to shower or take a bath. That meant her only option was eight weeks of sponge bathing.

She sighed. At least that was something she should be able to accomplish without help…although there was still the matter of washing her hair. She hadn't actually looked at herself in the mirror recently, so she did not know the exact state her hair was in, but she did know that the last time she had washed her hair had been two days ago.

Amy glanced at the clock again. She didn't have to speak until the afternoon, but she was beginning to suspect she would need every available moment to get her there on time, with clean clothes and hair. She supposed she would be able to wash her hair using the sink and a cup…but somehow she suspected she would still need help. At the very least, she would need help getting into the bathroom. The thought was appealing.

She furrowed her brow. Speaking of the bathroom, she needed to go.

Amy sighed again. She had been given crutches for her use, but given her pain level currently, she suspected they would not be of much use to her. It occurred to her, now, that she would need to learn to use them quickly, or else learn to rely on Sheldon for everything.

An image of the Sheldon in her dream, carrying her down the stairs after she slipped, re-entered her mind. She shook her head, trying to shake the memory away. It would be best if she forgot about that dream, because it was simply never going to happen.

* * *

Sheldon walked up to the door to…Amy's room and stood in front of it, staring at the lock. He pondered the fact that he would very shortly be going into her room to help her; that he would likely be forced to touch her.

Almost immediately, he felt the now familiar pain in his chest and unconsciously put a hand up to it. Penny's voice immediately rang in his head, telling him to just admit that it had been at the thought of…Amy that his chest had started hurting.

He quickly lowered his hand and closed his eyes, breathing slowly and forcing Penny's voice away.

When he opened his eyes, he looked at the lock on the door with renewed determination. Penny was wrong. He was dealing just fine. And he would prove it.

He took the last step to the door and put the key in the lock. At the last moment he remembered that he should knock. He blinked, pressing his lips together in irritation at the realization that, in his determination to block Penny's voice from his mind, he had nearly forgotten his manners.

He immediately raised his hand to the door.

*Knock knock knock* "…Amy."

*Knock knock knock* "…Amy."

*Knock knock knock* "…Amy."

After his third knock, he heard her say, "Come in."

Sheldon swallowed and turned the doorknob, walking in slowly.

She was sitting upright in bed, watching him enter the room with a blank expression on her face. He let go of the door behind him and heard it close. He briefly noted that she was still wearing her clothes from the day prior, and then immediately looked away.

Sheldon felt panic rising. He didn't want to be here. The urge to turn around and walk out of the room was nearly overwhelming. His chest pain returned, yet again, and he started to put a hand up to his chest. Almost immediately he realized what he was doing and slapped his hand determinedly back to his side.

He glanced back at Amy, finding her still watching him. He looked away quickly, clearing his throat.

"I suppose you need help getting out of bed."

"That would be helpful, yes."

Sheldon set down his messenger bag and walked over to the bed. When he got there, he merely stood, unsure how best to remove…Amy from the bed.

He was surprised to find himself staring at the cast on…Amy's leg when her voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I believe if you can merely help me move my legs over, and provide a firm arm to grab, then I will be able to stand up long enough to get to the wheelchair."

Sheldon gave a short nod to let her know he had heard.

He closed his eyes briefly. Now he would have to grab her legs. He felt his hands tingle at the thought, closed his fists in response, and then willed himself to move.

"Sheldon?"

He jumped slightly, and then pressed his lips together in irritation at himself. He could do this. He _would_ do this. Penny was not right.

He took a step towards…Amy and reached down to grab her by the legs. Just before his hands touched her, however, he paused. Along with the tingling, his hands were now twitching again. Sheldon felt the urge to turn around and run back to his room intensify. He didn't want to touch…Amy.

He swallowed as his mind reminded him yet again of Penny's assumption, causing him to quickly reach out to grab…Amy's legs.

Keeping his eyes on his hands, Sheldon asked. "Are you ready?"

She answered with a soft, "Yes."

He slowly moved her legs, trying not to jolt them, lest she be caused unnecessary pain. When her legs hanging over the side of the bed, he let go of the uninjured leg and very slowly began to lower the other to the floor.

As soon as it touched the floor, Sheldon let go and straightened up, looking anywhere but towards her, holding out his hand for her to grab. He tensed when he felt her hand grasp his firmly and pull herself upward. When she let go, Sheldon let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding.

He immediately put his hand back at his side and stooped down to lift the section of the chair made to hold…Amy's leg in place. Every instinct he had was still screaming at him to leave, but he continued to ignore it in favor of proving Penny wrong.

After ensuring that her leg was in place, Sheldon stepped behind the wheelchair. He paused, not quite sure what he was supposed to do next.

Without turning her head to look at him, Amy spoke. "The bathroom."

Sheldon immediately started pushing the wheelchair into the bathroom. When he got it in there, he quickly walked out, grateful that the bathroom was at least big enough to allow him to close the door.

* * *

After the door closed, Amy let out the breath she had been holding. She was having a difficult time forgetting about her dream. How was she ever going to make it through these eight weeks?

After once again using upper body strength she didn't know she possessed in order to get from the wheelchair to the toilet and back again, Amy looked at herself in the mirror.

She was most definitely in need of some cleaning up. And of course, there was still the matter of changing her clothes…but since she was in the bathroom, perhaps she would tackle washing first. She started by grabbing the side of the sink, pulling herself up to stand on her good leg.

Once she was upright, she used one hand to grab a washcloth from next to the sink, and wet it. Then she looked down for a place to start and promptly realized she was still fully dressed. She could hardly wash without removing her clothes.

And if she was taking off her clothes, then she would need replacements, as she did not want to put her two day old clothes back on after washing.

But if she was going to be changing her clothes, then perhaps it would be best to start with washing her hair, thus ensuring that she didn't inadvertently soil her clean clothes.

Amy gripped the sink, already feeling exhausted before she had even begun. She looked around for a glass to help her rinse her hair. There wasn't one.

Amy carefully sank back down into her wheelchair, realizing with a sinking heart that she was going to have to rely on Sheldon to help her. Not only did she need him to at least wheel her to where she could get some fresh clothes, but likely she would need his assistance in washing and/or rinsing her hair, as she was fairly certain that she would need three hands to stay upright, work in the shampoo, and pour water to rinse.

She closed her eyes and then reached back and knocked on the door. She heard it open and glanced in the mirror, seeing Sheldon's reflection as he opened the door and pulled her backwards.

When they were out of the bathroom, Amy opened her eyes and said, "I'm going to need your help."

"Naturally. Isn't that why I'm here?"

Amy cleared her throat. "Yes…but what I mean is…" She found her throat suddenly dry, and swallowed. "I'm going to need you to help me…wash my hair."

She waited, but received no reply. She frowned in confusion and turned around. Sheldon was looking down at her with wide eyes, hand on his chest, seemingly frozen.

Amy turned back around and continued on. "I will not be able to shower or take a bath, therefore I will have to wash my hair in the sink. While under normal circumstances I would be able to do this alone, I believe it will not be possible for me to both stay standing upright, and wash and rinse my hair, without an extra pair of hands."

She stopped and closed her eyes, hating the silence. She couldn't help but remember the many occasions when she and Sheldon had spent hours in silence. But that, of course, had been entirely different. That had been an amiable silence, shared by two people who enjoyed each other's company. This was the awkward silence of two people forced into each other's company by extenuating circumstances.

After what felt like an eternity, Amy heard Sheldon reply, "Very well."

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, and cleared her throat again. "We will need a cup."

Sheldon walked around her to one of the tables, on which there was a small plastic cup. He grabbed it, glanced over at Amy, and then walked back to the chair, handing the cup to her. He then started to wheel her towards the bathroom, when Amy protested.

"Wait. I need to get a change of clothes. After my hair is clean, I need to change out of these."

Without a word, Sheldon wheeled Amy over to the small closet where she had hung her clothing items. She pointed out the clothes she would like to change into and Sheldon pulled them off the hangers. He then wheeled Amy over to the small dresser where her undergarments were.

When he stopped in front of it, Amy turned around and said, "Turn around."

Sheldon frowned, looking confused. "Why?"

"I don't want you to see my undergarments."

Sheldon blinked. "Oh." He promptly turned around.

As Amy opened the drawer and grabbed out her bra and underwear, she again found herself comparing her life in the past to the one in the present. There had been a time when she would have asked him to get her undergarments for her, in the hopes of eliciting a strong emotional response from him.

Amy shut the drawer forcefully. But that was not the case now.

After tucking the bra and underwear underneath her other clothes, she said, "Ok."

Sheldon then wheeled her into the bathroom.

* * *

Once reaching the bathroom, Sheldon paused, dreading the upcoming ordeal. He managed to climb around the wheelchair so that he was in front of her. She held out her folded clothes to him, and he took them, laying them on the side of the tub, before turning back towards her.

"Would you please grab my shampoo and conditioner from the bathtub?"

Sheldon turned around and located the items, bringing them over to the sink. He then held out his hand for…Amy to grab.

She grabbed it and forced herself into a standing position. When she looked at him, Sheldon felt an even sharper stab of pain than usual.

"I…believe the easiest way to do this will be for you to…wash my hair for me."

Sheldon blinked, immediately panicking. "I don't know how to wash female hair."

Amy seemed unphased. "It is not very different than washing male hair I would assume."

He again put a hand up to his chest, finding it difficult to breathe. "That's just your assumption."

"All you have to do is put shampoo or conditioner in your hand and pull it through the hair. Then you take the cup and rinse. It's really not that difficult."

Sheldon shook his head slightly. "But I don't know the appropriate ratio of shampoo to hair. No. I think you should do it."

Amy stared at him for a moment before saying quietly, "I merely assumed that you would not want to hold me by the waist."

Sheldon swallowed hard. "Why would I have to hold you by the waist?" His voice cracked.

"Where else will you hold me that would allow me to bend over the sink with both hands so that the washing could be done?"

Sheldon stared, seeing the conundrum and loathing his options. He would be forced to either hold…Amy by the waist, a thought which he noted caused a distinct increase in his heart rate and respiratory rate, or run shampoo and conditioner through her hair. There must be another way.

Sheldon's mind whirred quickly, trying to find another solution that would allow him to help her without actually being forced to touch her in such close quarters.

After several seconds however, Amy interrupted his thought process. "Sheldon? Don't you have to go to work today?"

Sheldon looked over at her, not comprehending the reason for the question. "Yes."

"Then perhaps we should get moving. You don't want to be late."

Sheldon swallowed. "Of course."

"So which is it?"

"Which is what?"

"Do you…hold me by the waist, or…wash my hair."

Sheldon felt his fingers tingling and twitching again. He came to a quick decision. The lesser of the two evils in this case would be to wash…Amy's hair. While he would be touching her, it would mostly be her hair. And there would be soap involved. Very sanitary.

"I'll…wash your hair."

Amy nodded. "Very well." She began hopping on her good leg until she was in front of the sink and then turned on the water. She removed her glasses and bent down, using her fingers to flip her hair over her head.

Sheldon watched, frozen in fear, as her hair dangled down into the sink, exposing the backside of her neck.

He closed his eyes. _You can do this. Penny is not right. You are not affected._

Sheldon opened his eyes and grabbed the cup, filling it with water and then hesitantly pouring it over…Amy's hair. He repeated this a few times until her hair was completely wet.

Then he forced himself to grab the bottle of shampoo. He did some quick calculations in his head on the ratio of shampoo to hair for his own head and how to adjust the formula for her hair. When he reached the conclusion, he poured his estimated amount of shampoo into his hand.

He started to reach out hesitantly, but the shampoo started to run through his fingers, so he quickly dove his hand into her hair. He moved his hand around, trying to make sure that every hair came in contact with the shampoo, but as he seemed to be quickly running out of shampoo on his hands, the task seemed impossible.

"It helps if you start at the root of the hair and work down," Amy said.

Sheldon did as she said, forcing himself to touch her scalp, gently rubbing the shampoo into her hair at the base and then working it outward.

Sheldon felt as if he were in a nightmare. Her hair was soft and silky to the touch. Aside from the occasional pat on his Meemaw's head, Sheldon had never touched the hair of a woman. He found himself, without realizing it, pondering if all female hair was as soft. Unconsciously, he slowed down his frantic movements into more even movements, working the shampoo all over…Amy's head, enjoying the feeling.

Then he realized what he was doing and dropped her hair, quickly grabbing the cup and filling it with water. The first pour went everywhere; down the back of Amy's shirt; onto the counter; dropping on Sheldon's shoes.

He yelped as he felt the water soaked through to his socks. Now he would have to go back to his room for a fresh pair of socks. He frowned down at his feet, irritated.

"Sheldon?"

Sheldon looked up. She was looking at him through her wet, soapy hair.

He nodded and filled the cup again, taking care to pour slowly. He repeated this several times, forcing himself to lift up her hair so that the ends could be rinsed as well. He clenched his jaw, determined that he would not fail. He would prove Penny wrong. He was unaffected. He ignored the pain in his chest.

Once her hair was devoid of shampoo, Sheldon grabbed the conditioner bottle. He paused again. He did not have a ratio to work with here, as he did not use conditioner on his own head.

"How much conditioner do you use?"

Amy spoke through her teeth. "It doesn't matter. Just put some in your hand."

Sheldon opened his mouth and then noticed Amy's knuckles were white as she held on to the sink.

He frowned, concerned. "Are you in pain? Perhaps it would be best to stop."

"No. Keep going. My hair will not brush out properly if I don't use conditioner."

"No, you're not in pain? Or no don't stop." Sheldon was hit with the memory of himself saying those words many months ago and nearly cried out at the pain in his chest. He quickly shoved the memory away.

"No, don't stop."

Sheldon swallowed. "So you are in pain."

"Yes, but please, let's just get this done."

"Are you sure you don't want me to get you your morphine?"

"It won't work fast enough. Please Sheldon, just put the conditioner in my hair."

Sheldon paused, still unsure. She was in pain. Her knuckles were white and he noticed her uninjured leg shaking.

"Sheldon!"

Sheldon looked over at her face, but she had her eyes closed. This drove him instinctually into action. He poured conditioner into his hands and then proceeded to run his hands through…Amy's hair. Even in his hurry, he made note of the fact that the conditioner only served to make her hair feel even softer between his hands. He almost immediately pushed the thought away.

Once he was certain every hair had been covered in the conditioner, Sheldon filled the cup again and proceeded to rinse the conditioner out of her hair. When at last he was finished, Sheldon set down the cup and held out his arm for…Amy to hold on to as she lowered herself once again into the wheelchair.

She did so with a sigh, her still sopping wet hair dripping everywhere. Sheldon grabbed a towel and handed it to her. He blinked at her as she grabbed the towel and used it to start squeezing the water from her hair. Every instinct in him was telling him to run, but he found himself rooted to the spot, watching as she ran her fingers through the wet tresses. He found his hands twitching again and squeezed them into a fist.

The softness of her hair popped into his mind and Sheldon instinctively squeezed his hands into even tighter fists, closing his eyes, and focusing all his energy on pressing the thought away.

When he opened his eyes, she was looking at him through the mirror with a confused expression. Without saying a word, he immediately turned around and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

**A/N: This story has a way of getting away from me. The last chapter, this one, and the next one were all supposed to be in a single chapter. Oh now naive I have been. lol Thanks for reading!**


	14. Harsh Truths

**A/N: My gratitude for your awesomeness knows no bounds. I can not_ believe_ I'm over 300 reviews after a mere 13 chapters. You rock! :) Sorry about the wait. Life has a way of suddenly making demands. I got a kitten who has demanded (or commanded) my attention, my friends insisted we hang out, my boss expected me to work. (...the nerve.) And none of them seemed to understand that fic writing was important...Anywho...it's the weekend! Yay! Let's get to reading. :)**

* * *

Amy looked through the mirror at the door behind her, frowning slightly as she thought about Sheldon's behavior. He certainly was acting perplexing…even for him.

She turned around and continued toweling her hair off, pondering the situation. As predicted, he had wanted to touch her as little as possible. Although, admittedly she felt very similar. In fact, having him run his fingers through her hair, had only served to keep the Sheldon in her dream alive in her thoughts.

She paused as she thought about the change in his behavior as Sheldon had washed her hair. He had started off predictably flighty, making every attempt to avoid doing what she needed him to do…but then his movements had slowed, had become more methodical.

Amy sat up straighter as a new thought occurred to her. Had it not been Sheldon, she would have almost thought he had been caressing her hair. She snorted derisively at herself, but couldn't actually come up with an alternative reason for his nearly tender treatment of her hair during the shampooing and conditioning process...She was sure there was one, however.

She set the towel aside and grabbed her brush, pulling it through her hair. Then there was the still perplexing hand-over-the-heart movement she had now observed several times. _Perhaps he is experiencing heart palpitations_, she thought.

But that didn't make any sense. If Sheldon were experiencing heart palpitations he would surely have been making frequent visits to the doctor. He would be freaking out. He would not be putting his hand over his heart and saying nothing.

Speaking of nothing, Amy frowned in confusion as she recalled yesterday's taxi ride home and how little Sheldon had said regarding the driver's appalling driving. That was not like him at all. He has said very little to her, but she has assumed it was due to the awkward situation between them.

Amy looked into the mirror, deciding that she would rather let her hair air dry than attempt to blow it dry. She grabbed a clip to hold the right side out of her face. As she clipped it into her hair, she wondered if she should mention any of her observations to Penny.

Amy paused again. It suddenly occurred to her that Penny knew nothing about Amy's accident. Between her haze of exhaustion and the awkward encounters with Sheldon, she had entirely forgotten to update her bestie on her situation. She would have to remedy that situation as soon as possible. Perhaps she could send her an email after dressing.

Amy looked down. Now that her hair was done, she supposed she had best get done with her sponge bathing and get on her clothes. She removed the top half of her clothes first and proceeded to wipe herself down, and then put on her fresh three layers.

As good as a full shower would have felt, Amy had to admit that simply putting on fresh shirts and having clean hair was doing wonders for her.

She frowned as she looked down and began trying to puzzle out how to change into a fresh skirt and underwear. Also, it was rather cold outside…or at least colder than she was used to. What was she going to do without her tights? Perhaps she would have to invest in some thick wool knee socks for her uninjured leg. But getting back to the matter at hand, how was she going to remove her skirt and underwear?

Amy attempted to stand up on one leg, grabbing the counter for support. She made it up, but then realized she would need 2 hands to undo the zipper on her skirt. She leaned forward so that her stomach was resting against the counter, gritting her teeth at the pain and reached around herself to pull down the zipper, letting the skirt fall to her feet.

It was only as the skirt hit the floor that Amy realized a potential flaw in her plan of self sufficiency. How was she going to get the next skirt up? Or her fresh underwear for that matter. She hopped around until her foot was out of the skirt and then attempted to bend down to pick it up, testing to see if she would be able to do so herself.

Her first attempt failed, as she got about halfway bent before she felt a nearly blinding pain in her leg as she accidentally put too much pressure on it.

She stood back up, panicking. Asking Sheldon to help her put on a skirt was one thing, (and certainly bad enough) but asking him to help her with her underwear was quite another. She sighed. A few months ago however…

She shook her head. This was not a few months ago. This was now. And she needed to figure this out. In her panic, she quickly came up with a new plan. She hopped back over to the skirt and put her injured leg in the middle of it. She leaned over on her left side, so that she could avoid putting pressure on her injured leg and would instead be able to use the counter for support. Then, using her uninjured leg, she lifted the skirt with her foot, pulling it up the cast a bit. She then leaned further onto the counter so that her injured leg was elevated and continued to use her uninjured leg to shimmy the skirt up far enough so that she could reach down and pull it up.

_Success!_ she thought, happily.

She tossed the skirt aside, and reached for the rest of her clean clothes. Using the new system, she was able to put on a fresh skirt and underwear, without the aid of Sheldon. Admittedly, it got a little hairy during the underwear exchange, as the leg opening was a touch smaller than the width of her cast. But in the end she was able to accomplish putting on her own clothes.

She was still reveling in her success when she realized the pain in her leg was starting to get worse. In fact, it was quickly becoming much more than a dull ache. Perhaps she had exerted herself more than she had thought.

She needed morphine…and quickly.

"Sheldon." Her voice croaked out, barely making a sound. She cleared her throat, but before she could open her mouth she heard,

*_Knock, knock, knock*_ "…Amy"

*_Knock, knock, knock*_ "…Amy"

*_Knock, knock, knock*_ "…Amy"

Relieved, and starting to feel a little light headed, Amy replied, "Come in."

* * *

Sheldon opened the door, swallowing and putting a hand to his chest as he noticed how pale…Amy looked, gripping the side of the sink. If he recalled correctly (and of course he did), prior to fainting, a person's blood pressure dropped, causing the blood to drain from their face, thus making them pale in appearance.

"Are you alright? You look pale," he remarked.

She closed her eyes, and nodded once. "Yes. I…am in quite a lot of pain, however."

Sheldon's eyes bugged out at this news.

"Would you be able to bring me my bottle of morphine?"

Sheldon started to turn around, but then paused and turned back. "Pain and low blood pressure, as indicated by the paleness of your face, can induce fainting. Given your current condition, it is probably best if you sit down before I retrieve your medicine."

She didn't respond except to nod. Sheldon hesitantly walked over and offered his arm for…Amy to grab on to. She did so, gasping and wincing. Sheldon resisted the sudden, inexplicable urge to wrap his arm around her as she descended into her wheelchair.

Where on earth had that come from? Likely it was the result of some innate, evolutionary instinct derived to ensure the continued existence of the human race by ensuring that the weak are cared for.

But then that didn't fit in with the idea of natural selection…Sheldon ignored the thought.

As soon as she was seated, he fled the bathroom and headed for the bottle of morphine. As he reached the table, he noticed the blinking light on the phone. Given his recent conversation with Penny, he suspected it must be from her.

He walked back and handed…Amy the bottle. She immediately opened it, threw a couple of pills into her hand and swallowed them dry.

Sheldon frowned. "Wouldn't it be better if you swallowed them with water?"

She looked at him through the mirror. "I don't have a water glass."

Sheldon went back to find another plastic cup. When he returned, he filled it up and handed it to her.

While she took sips, Sheldon said, "You have a message on the hotel telephone."

She glanced at him. "Thank you." She set down the cup.

Sheldon grabbed the wheelchair and pulled her out and over to the phone. He glanced at his watch.

"Please be quick. If we don't leave in three minutes we will be late for breakfast."

She glanced back at him again, but didn't say anything, listening to the message. As she did so, she frowned.

She hung up the phone and then picked it up again.

"What are you doing?" Sheldon asked.

She turned around. "Calling Penny. She sounded worried in her message. I don't wish to keep her waiting."

Sheldon blinked at…Amy. "But we'll be late for breakfast."

"I don't think it will kill us."

"You don't know that. It could. What if we were supposed to cross the street 3 minutes earlier than we do and we both get hit by a car?"

She looked back, again. "While not impossible, I would say that scenario is at least improbable."

Sheldon thought quickly. His life was already in upheaval. He couldn't be late for breakfast. "It's the middle of the night in Pasadena."

"Penny frequently stays up late."

"Why can't you call her after breakfast?"

She looked at him again, confused. "It would still be the middle of the night."

"Yes. But I wouldn't be late for breakfast."

She stared at him for several moments, before sighing and saying, "And of course it is always you that must come first."

Sheldon blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

She paused before shaking her head and saying, "Nothing."

She set the phone back on the cradle and put her hands on her lap. "Let's go to breakfast."

Sheldon blinked for a moment, considering what…Amy could had meant by her statement. He had his schedule detailed down to the last minute. If he were late for breakfast, then he would surely be late for work. He had meticulously rearranged his schedule to compensate for the calculated time it would take for him to help Amy. But what good would that do him if she insisted on making a telephone call _before_ breakfast? He already had to stop back at his hotel room to change his damp shoes and socks.

He considered repeating his question, but decided he would rather get to breakfast. He grabbed…Amy's wheelchair and headed for the door.

* * *

Amy sipped her hot chocolate, glancing over at Sheldon as she did so. He took a drink of his tea and then looked at his watch, frowning. He craned his head around to look behind him and then turned around and sighed.

She could guess what was bothering him. Likely the meal was taking longer to get there than usual, or longer than Sheldon had calculated. But what Amy _couldn't_ guess was why he was not attempting to flag down the server and ask what was taking so long, or why he wasn't muttering about "sub-par service".

When Sheldon glanced up at her, Amy realized she was staring and dropped her gaze to the mug in her hands.

She frowned and started scolding herself. She should not be spending so much time wondering about Sheldon. She would never be able to handle these next eight weeks if she didn't stop spending her time pondering his inner workings.

Curse him for being so interesting. That ultimately is the cause of her current situation, after all. If Sheldon Cooper had turned out to be like the myriad of other dates she been duped into on that ridiculous dating website, then she would not have felt compelled to continue the relationship beyond the first date.

A small part of her pointed out that, had that happened, she would never have met Penny. She would still be going out on dates with random strangers who were always boring and/or far too handsy. She would never have been a Maid of Honor in Howard and Bernadette's wedding. She would never have had friends to help her through a bad breakup…or possibly even had a boyfriend to break up with.

Amy suddenly had a quote pop into her head. _'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.'_

She resisted the urge to snort. Obviously Lord Tennyson's breakups had all been amiable.

She looked up at Sheldon again, frowning when she saw his hand at his chest.

"Why do you do that?"

He quickly lowered his hand and flicked his eyes towards her. "I don't know to what you are referring."

Amy blinked. "Why do you put your hand to your chest?"

Sheldon's eyes began roaming the room, a sure sign that he was thinking of a way to avoid answering her question. Despite her better judgment, she found herself intrigued.

"There could be any number of reasons why. Perhaps I was feeling suddenly patriotic and was reciting our pledge of allegiance. Or perhaps I was experiencing indigestion."

Amy stared for a beat. "Are either of those true?"

Sheldon started squirming. He was definitely avoiding something. Amy waited to see what he would say.

He cleared his throat. "In the grand scheme of things, yes."

Amy raised an eyebrow. "In the grand scheme of things?"

Sheldon's eyes kept roaming the room, avoiding her gaze. "Yes."

"What does that mean?"

His eyes flicked towards her. Amy felt her curiosity grow. Just what was he avoiding saying? Without even fully realizing it, she found herself wishing she had electrodes so that she could begin studying his responses to her questions.

Sheldon cleared his throat, again. "There was no defined time, so if we include past, present, and future times, then yes they are true."

Amy raised both her eyebrows. Well, she should have known that Sheldon Cooper would never answer a direct question with a direct answer.

Just then the server arrived with their meal. Amy waited for Sheldon to begin his string of complaints, stirring her Birchermüesli in the meantime. But as she was bringing the first spoonful to her mouth she paused, realizing the server had left, and that Sheldon had not made a complaint. In her shock, she set her spoon back in the bowl and stared.

Sheldon glanced up and then frowned, taking a bite of his Birchermüesli, and looking back at his bowl.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Amy asked, before she could stop herself.

He looked up briefly, and then took his spoon and began stirring his bowl. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

Amy picked her spoon back up and brought it to her mouth, thinking. Should she attempt another direct question? She felt her curiosity growing again, and again scolded herself.

What good would it do to begin having conversations with Sheldon? She already knew that he was interesting, and that it would only serve to hurt her in the end. She knew where he stood on their relationship; he had not wanted to move forward. There is no reason to assume the same won't be true now, and thus, why allow herself to become ensnared by his brilliant mind again? Nothing had changed.

Sheldon interrupted her thoughts. "When we are sharing a hotel suite, our morning routine will be much simpler and we will better be able to avoid running late."

Amy inhaled sharply and started choking on her food. As she coughed, vaguely wondering if she would die from inhaled Birchermüesli, her mind whirled. What is he talking about? Why would they be sharing a hotel suite? "Our morning routine"?

She looked over at Sheldon, still coughing, and found him watching her with wide eyes and a hand on his chest.

She grabbed her mug of cocoa and took a drink. The server appeared.

"Are you alright, Mademoiselle?"

Amy nodded. "Yes," she rasped. "Although, perhaps some water would be helpful." The server nodded and walked away.

Amy continued to cough until the server reappeared with a bottle of water and a glass. She took it, poured herself a glass, and took a long drink.

She looked over at Sheldon, who now was looking at her with a blank expression, both arms plastered to his sides.

"What did you mean, when we share a hotel suite?" Her voice was still hoarse, but at least she could breathe again.

Sheldon blinked at her for a moment before answering. "I have put in a request to my current employer for a change of living situation, given that you will need me to perform most tasks for you."

"You…put in a request for a hotel suite?" Amy could hardly believe her ears. She wasn't sure if she felt impressed or angered. On the one hand, Sheldon was behaving incredibly logically and his idea made sense. On the other hand, she did not like the idea of sharing a hotel suite with him and found it incredibly presumptuous that he would do such a thing without so much as discussing it with her first. She did not like the thought of spending the next eight weeks sharing a hotel suite with Sheldon.

She closed her eyes. He would be there constantly. There would be no escape from his presence. Just seeing him for the duration of a car ride from the hospital to their hotel had been enough to induce a gut-wrenching dream. She shuddered to think what _living_ with Sheldon would cause.

She opened her eyes. "I can't live with you in a hotel suite."

Sheldon blinked at her a moment. "Why not? It's the only logical solution."

Amy frowned. "I would think that is obvious. We're exes."

Amy saw some very brief emotion cross Sheldon's face, but it was gone too soon for her to identify it.

"I don't see why that should make a difference."

Amy stared. "It makes a difference because…" she swallowed. "Neither one of us enjoys being in each other's presence."

Sheldon pressed his lips together. "And how do you propose we handle the current situation. You are, for all intents and purposes, completely dependent upon my helping you, and I don't wish to trudge up and down the stairs every time you need help."

That stung. And it was true, which made it sting even more.

Amy closed her eyes, again. She was, at this point, completely dependent upon Sheldon Cooper for nearly everything. It had even been at the cost of over-exerting herself just to put on clean clothes by herself.

She frowned as a new thought occurred to her. Given everything that had happened since her arrival, she hadn't really thought about it. But now that things had somewhat calmed down, she wondered.

"Why are you living in a hotel?"

Sheldon frowned in confusion. "Where else would I be living?"

Amy raised her eyebrows. "In an apartment?"

"That seems like a waste of time and money."

"How is that a waste of time and money?"

"Because I'm only here for six months."

"You…" Amy paused, confused. He was only here for six months? She thought back, quickly, to her conversation with Penny. She did not remember Penny mentioning anything about Sheldon's move to Switzerland being temporary. In fact, if she recalled correctly, Penny's phrasing had definitely made it seem as if Sheldon had moved to Switzerland permanently. Why would Penny do that?

Amy shook her head. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I do not wish to share a hotel suite with you. And, what's more, you made this decision without consulting me."

Sheldon blinked at her. "Why would I ask you first?"

Amy closed her eyes. This Sheldon, the kind that made her want to scream at his complete lack of consideration for others feelings, is exactly what she needed brush off the Sheldon in her dream, and remind her of why it had been a good idea to break off their relationship.

She sighed and opened her eyes again. "Because the decision of whether or not we share a hotel room affects more than just you."

Sheldon swallowed and looked down at his bowl. "Do you deny that it is necessary for me to help you?"

Amy sighed again. "No-"

"And do you deny that the need for remaining in…close quarters is necessary?"

Amy could feel Sheldon's logic begin to creep up and claim the victory in this argument. How the tables had turned…When they had been dating, Amy had frequently been the one winning logic arguments.

"No…"

Sheldon picked up his spoon. "Then I don't see what your complaint is."

"My complaint is your continued unwillingness to think of anyone but yourself."

Had Amy been able to, she would have walked away. But since she was stuck, she contented herself with looking down at her bowl and furiously scraping the spoon inside it.

"How is my making the sacrifice to my work and my living situation, in order to help you, thinking of myself?" Sheldon asked. "Your logic is flawed."

Amy looked up, ready to make a biting retort, and was taken aback by the blank, innocent expression on Sheldon's face. It would appear he was truly clueless…

She shook her head, feeling the wind fall out of her metaphorical sails. She didn't have the energy to argue what would likely be a never ending battle with Sheldon over who was correct. "Nevermind." She picked up her spoon, yet again, and put it to her mouth.

"So then, you agree."

Amy looked at Sheldon, who immediately averted his gaze. "Agree to what?"

"That it is necessary for you and I to share a hotel suite."

Amy most certainly did not agree…or at least, she didn't want to.

Despite how little she liked the idea, however, she couldn't deny the practicality of the situation. But to _live_ with Sheldon? For eight weeks? She was beginning to wonder if she was the subject of a social experiment of some Greek gods. Or perhaps a bet.

She scraped the spoon inside the bowl again and nodded, sighing. "Fine, Sheldon. You win."

She looked up and saw that he merely picked up his spoon and continued to eat. Neither one said another word the rest of the meal.

* * *

**A/N: Why not have Sheldon help Amy change her clothes, you ask? (1) Let's throw the girl a bone here. How humiliating would it be to have Sheldon change her underwear for her? (and for that matter, could Sheldon do it without dying of a heart attack), (2) I always try to puzzle things out and since I could find a way for her to do it, I went with it, and (probably most importantly to me) (3) I don't write naked Shamy. ;) Thanks for reading! :)**


	15. An Informative Discussion

**A/N: Thank you once again for the reviews. :)**

* * *

After Sheldon escorted Amy back to her room, he left to go to work. Prior to his leaving, Amy had requested that Sheldon leave the bag containing her laptop with her. She was planning to spend the next several hours, until she needed to leave, sitting in her wheelchair, going over her lecture notes. After returning from breakfast, Sheldon had arranged to have one of the hotel staff escort Amy from her room to the cab which would be waiting when it came time for her to leave.

But before she began going over her notes, Amy needed to call Penny. She set her laptop on her lap, adjusting the screen so that the camera would be pointing at her face and not her chest.

Penny picked up almost immediately, much to the surprise of Amy.

"Amy? Oh my god! I'm so happy to hear from you!"

Amy stared in surprise. "The fact that you have missed me so much, while infinitely flattering, is also surprising."

"Didn't you get my email?"

Amy raised her eyebrows. "I haven't checked. Did you send me one?"

"Yes!" Penny looked upwards. "I got your message about getting stuck in an elevator with Sheldon and told you to email or call me as soon as you got it."

"Oh," replied Amy. Penny seemed to be fairly upset. "Well, I haven't yet received the email, so I suppose I'm actually ahead of the game." Penny's mouth dropped open. "You seem to be very upset. What's troubling you, Bestie?"

Penny gave Amy a look. "Are you kidding me?"

Amy blinked. "No. I'm not."

"Amy! I've been worried sick. First you run into Sheldon after Bernadette and I told you it wouldn't happen and talked you into going to Switzerland in the first place, and then you fall and break your leg and I don't hear from you for days and had to hear it from Sheldon last night and no one would listen to me about why this is serious and why I'm worried about you and now you are doing the same thing, which is stupid because for the past seven months all you've done is mope around missing Sheldon and avoiding him like crazy and now you're stuck in the same hotel with him! Of course I'm upset!"

Amy stared in shock. That was quite a lot of information to have come pouring out of her Bestie's mouth all at once.

"I apologize. I had no idea you were so worried. I am afraid I was distracted by my stay in the hospital and the subsequent rest that was required when I was able to return to my hotel room."

Penny sighed. "No…don't. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. Of course you were pre-occupied…but…you know it would have been nice if you had called or emailed or something to at least let us know you broke your leg. Are you going to be ok when you fly home?"

Amy sighed heavily. "Unfortunately not. It would appear that I am going to be stuck in Geneva for the next eight weeks at least."

Penny stared. "What? Why?"

"The doctor doesn't seem to think it's a good idea for me to fly with my leg in a cast, such as it is."

"But…how's that gonna work?"

Amy closed her eyes. "Sheldon has arranged for us to stay in a hotel suite. He is going to be helping me as I recover."

Amy opened her eyes when she heard Penny shout an explicative. "Yes. I'm afraid that was my initial thought as well…well, perhaps not exactly, but the sentiment was similar."

"What are you going to do?"

Amy shrugged. "What choice do I have but to live with Sheldon for eight weeks?"

* * *

Sheldon looked away from his whiteboard toward the knock on his door. It was the head of the human resources department.

"Doctor Cooper."

Sheldon nodded.

"We attempted to call you, but you did not answer your phone."

"Yes. I unplug it when I am working. I don't like to be distracted." He looked pointedly at the man in front of him.

"Well, that makes it very difficult when a person is trying to reach you."

"Yes. And thus, only the people who have something important to say will come to disturb me. As you have done so, I ask you to state your business and then please leave."

The man frowned. "I have come to discuss with you your most recent request for a change in lodging."

Sheldon nodded. "Alright, when can I expect to move? Today? Tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Doctor Cooper."

* * *

"You're going to live with Sheldon for eight weeks?" Penny gave Amy a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Sweetie."

Amy shrugged. "There's little to be done. I don't have many options given the circumstances."

Penny eyed Amy, curiously. "You seem to be ok."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I mean…come on. You've been pretty broken up about breaking up with Sheldon ever since it happened. You've been avoiding him for months. You couldn't even bring yourself to kiss Stuart." She paused and shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought…maybe you'd be having a rough time."

Amy closed her eyes. She had been so focused on simply making it through from one crisis to another that she hadn't really stopped to think about things. At Penny's questioning, however, it hit her like a metaphorical ton of bricks. Her shoulders sagged and put her hands on her face, feeling tears rise to the surface.

"Oh, Amy! I'm sorry!...Dammit. I wish I was there. Don't cry."

"Penny, what am I going to do?" Amy used the sleeves of her shirt to try drying tears with, hiccupping. "I _am_ having a rough time. From the moment I stepped off the plane, all I could think about was Sheldon. When I ran into him in the elevator, all I could think was that he must be a mirage." She hiccupped and kept rubbing at her eyes, as more tears started to flow. "I never wanted to see him again, except that I did, and then I fell down the stairs. And now I have a broken leg in a foreign country and the only person I know is Sheldon." She looked at Penny, who had a helpless look on her face. "And now I can't even wash my hair without his help. He has to help me out of bed. It's terrible." Penny opened her mouth to speak, but Amy plunged on. "And then I find out that you lied to me." Penny closed her mouth and looked guilty. "He told me that he was only going to be in Switzerland for six months."

Amy looked at Penny. Penny took a deep breath and sighed. "Sweetie, I'm really sorry I lied to you…I just…was hoping maybe it would help you with Stuart if you thought Sheldon was going to be gone for good. I thought it might make getting over him easier." Penny gave her a pleading look. "Do you think you can forgive me?"

* * *

"Unacceptable!" Sheldon said. "What do you mean you are unable to provide me with a hotel suite?"

"Doctor Cooper," began the man. "A hotel suite is simply too expensive to consider-"

"When I agreed to come work here, to leave the safety of my home and my country, I was told that my needs would be seen to."

"And they have, Doctor Cooper, but-"

"Then my request should not be denied. My needs have shifted due to circumstances beyond my control, and I will now need a residence with more than one bedroom. If you are indeed providing for my needs, then you should be able to provide an acceptable alternative to my current living situation."

* * *

"Alright," Amy said after a moment, sniffing. "I can't stay angry with you, Bestie." She gave Penny a stern look. "But don't lie to me again."

"Right," said Penny. She used her index finger to outline an x over her heart. "Cross my heart. I promise…so…are you going to be ok? Do you want me to come to Switzerland?"

Amy shook her head. "Penny, you can't afford to come to Switzerland." She wiped her eyes again, and wished for a tissue to wipe her nose. "I'll be fine. I've managed well enough so far." She frowned, remembering her earlier observations.

"I do have a question though."

Penny nodded. "Ok, shoot."

"Well…Sheldon has been acting really strange."

Amy noticed Penny start to squirm. "Oh…um…how do you mean?"

Amy cocked her head to the side. She suspected that Sheldon's living arrangements were not the only thing that Penny had been keeping from her. "Well, for one thing, he hardly talks."

"Oh?" Penny looked away.

Amy frowned in response. "Yes. For example, this morning our breakfast was late and Sheldon didn't say a word to the waiter…and then yesterday, the cab driver drove very dangerously and Sheldon only commented once. I don't think I have to tell you that this is strange behavior for him."

"Mmm," Penny replied, looking at her nails.

"At first I assumed that he wasn't talking to me because of the awkward situation. Now I'm not so sure."

Amy waited for Penny to respond but all she did was nod. Amy plunged on. "And then, I noticed he's always putting his hand over his heart."

"Mmhmm."

"Well…I asked him about it this morning but all he would say is that I didn't define the time frame in my question and that he could have been saying the pledge of allegiance or had indigestion."

Penny adopted a look of innocence. "Maybe he had indigestion."

Amy frowned. "You and I both know that if Sheldon had indigestion or if anything else was wrong with his chest, that he'd be frequenting the doctor. His behavior is most definitely strange." Amy looked at Penny, suspiciously. "Do you know what is going on?"

Penny cleared her throat. "Um…maybe?"

"Then, I beg you to enlighten me, because I can't make sense of it."

Penny started squirming again. "I don't know, Amy…it might just make things weird."

"Weird?" That was a peculiar statement.

"Yeah…you know…between you and Sheldon."

"Why would it make things weird between us? And honestly, how much weirder can things get? I'm stuck in Switzerland with Sheldon as my caretaker."

Penny nodded slowly. "Fair point." Penny took a deep breath and sighed again. "See…the thing is…Sheldon's been a little…different since you guys broke up."

"Different? How so?" Amy found herself getting intrigued again.

"Well…like you mentioned that he doesn't talk much? Well…that sort of began after you broke it off."

Amy blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"But…why did he stop talking?"

Penny bit her lip. "Um…well, he told Leonard that relationships were…unnecessary and since he didn't need relationships with people, he didn't need to talk to them."

Amy stared, completely shocked. "Do you mean he isn't friends with you guys any more?"

"Well…I don't know. I mean, Leonard still drives him everywhere and he still hangs out with everyone for dinner and game nights and all of that…he just doesn't talk to them."

"But, why would he think that he didn't need relationships?"

Penny shrugged. "He never said. He wouldn't answer when Leonard asked. He just walked away."

Very interesting.

"Do you know why he is always grabbing his chest?"

"Um…" Penny paused for a long time. "He said once that he feels a sharp pain in his chest."

Amy sat back, surprised and alarmed. "And has he seen a cardiologist?"

Penny nodded. "Yep."

Amy waited. "And?"

Penny shrugged. "The doctor said there's nothing wrong."

Amy frowned. "And Sheldon was satisfied with that answer? Why didn't he seek a second opinion? That doesn't sound like him at all…"

"Well…like I said…he's different."

"Well, did the doctor give any possible reason behind the pain?"

Penny took a deep breath and held it, seeming to contemplate her answer. This entire situation was baffling. Amy would never have dreamt that Sheldon would be suffering through chest pains without going to great lengths to find a diagnosis for his ailment.

Penny finally seemed to make a decision, exhaled, and spoke quietly. "The doctor said that sometimes emotional stress can cause pain in the chest. Like…from either anxiety or repressing too many emotions…Sheldon stopped going to the doctor after that."

Amy stared at Penny, unsure how to process this information.

"Why didn't you or Bernadette say anything?" Amy asked quietly.

Penny shrugged. "I don't know. You had a reason for breaking up with him, and he hadn't changed…at least not in the way you wanted him to. I just thought it'd be easier for you if you didn't know how much he was…suffering."

Amy sat in shock. Sheldon had been suffering? She didn't know what think. All this time she had assumed that he had cared so little about her. She had thought he had limited his conversation with her out of awkwardness and contempt.

She shook her head. But she had been witness, in the recent days, to the same behaviors as before. He had done things out of necessity only. He had made decisions about her life without consulting her first.

And yet, he had also agreed to help her, when there was no benefit to him, and with very little cajoling.

Amy put her head in her hands. This was all very confusing. Before she had broken up with him, Amy had been convinced she understood Sheldon. She had thought he cared about her, but that he was simply uncomfortable with emotional displays. And then, when he had grabbed her hand, she had been _sure_ that he felt the same way about her as she had about him. But the very next day he had told her he didn't want to move forward. He had started regressing, and had been so stubborn and logical about it that Amy had truly believed he valued the idea of a Nobel Prize more highly than his relationship with her.

Now she didn't know what to think.

"Amy?"

Amy raised her head to look back at Penny. "Thank you for the information Penny. I need to go prepare for my lecture today."

"Amy, wait-"

"Wish me luck. I'll Skype you again tomorrow."

Amy disconnected the call.

* * *

"If you would just let me finish, Doctor Cooper," said the now exasperated man, "I think you might like what I have to say."

Sheldon crossed his arms. "Very well. Dazzle me."

"I was going to say that we will be unable to provide you with a hotel suite. Due to the expense, a small, furnished, two-bedroom apartment will more cost effective. As it happens, we know of someone who is looking to sublet their home while they are a guest lecturer for half a year in Germany. They are willing to let us have you stay there for a price that ends up being much cheaper than the hotel room you are currently occupying."

Sheldon blinked. "Oh."

With that settled, he turned around and began staring at his white board again.

After several moments, the man spoke again. "Will that arrangement be acceptable for you, Doctor Cooper?"

Sheldon looked over at the man. "Yes."

Sheldon heard him sigh. "Very well. You will be able to make the switch late this weekend. They leave on Sunday."

Sheldon nodded and then ignored the man, continuing to study his research.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you kindly for reading. :)**


	16. It Means Nothing

**A/N: Thanks a million for the reviews. Sorry it's been so long between updates lately. Things have a way of happening to keep me from writing. Sigh. Anyway, onward to reading! :)**

* * *

By the time Amy returned from her lecture, Sheldon was waiting in the lobby, and she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was go to sleep. Only now, after her exhausting trip, was she considering that perhaps it would have been best to forgo the lecture. She had not anticipated just how difficult it would be on her to get to and from the university in her condition.

She looked up at Sheldon as he walked over behind her wheelchair and started pushing. She frowned when she realized he was heading out the door, rather than towards her room.

"Where are we going?"

He remained looking forward. "To dinner, of course."

Amy contemplated telling Sheldon she would rather go to bed, but decided she was too tired to bother with what would likely be an exhausting debate on the subject. Instead, she simply turned back around and put her head in her hand as Sheldon continued pushing her in the direction of that evening's meal.

After they were seated and their order taken, Amy found herself covertly watching Sheldon, pondering the new information she had received from Penny this morning and trying to reconcile it with the man sitting in front of her.

Sheldon was staring out the window, but Amy suspected he was not people watching. His eyes were half closed and he was frowning. The most likely cause for the look on his face was that he was thinking about an equation. Amy took a sip of her hot chocolate, looking down at her mug. She was beginning to like having hot chocolate at every meal.

She stole a glance at Sheldon again. He was now looking down, his finger moving about, seeming to write on the surface of the table. This was a man who was completely absorbed in his work; one who wasn't even bothering to attempt dinner conversation; who had said as little as possible to Amy during the now many times they had been around each other; who had refused to move forward in his relationship because his work meant so much more to him than she did. According to Penny, however, this was also a man who was so heartbroken by Amy's rejection that he had developed chest pains and had severed all relationships.

Amy frowned. She simply could not reconcile these two men into one person. It didn't make sense.

She pressed her lips together in irritation as she realized her line of thinking. How many times had she scolded herself for thinking of Sheldon? How many more times would it take before her mind listened?

A small voice in her head spoke up. _But if what Penny says is true, then wouldn't that change things? Wouldn't it be worth it to find out which of those two men Sheldon really is?_

Amy looked up from her mug, startled to see Sheldon looking at her…or actually, looking through her. She cocked her head to the side as she contemplated whether or not it was worth the possible heartache of pursuing the answer to that question. What if, at the end of it all, it turned out that Amy had been right all along? Wouldn't that just mean she'd have to relive all the pain she had already been through?

Sheldon suddenly blinked and his eyes locked on hers for a moment, before he quickly looked away. Amy frowned, now curious, when she noticed his hands in tight fists.

She cleared her throat. She was undecided about whether to pursue the truth of the matter, but, unfortunately, she still needed his help for most things. "Sheldon, I believe I am going to need you to take me shopping."

His eyes flitted over to her. "Why?"

Amy took a deep breath. "As happy as I was this morning at being able to dress myself, I'd be lying if I said I didn't over-exert myself. I need to buy some dresses and…other clothing items if I am to continue to dress myself which, I am sure you agree, would be best for everyone."

Sheldon pressed his lips together and nodded in response.

The server arrived just then with their food. Sheldon paid the server no attention, merely grabbing his fork and knife and beginning to cut his food. Amy blinked at him, and then looked up at the server, saying "Thank you," before he left.

They ate in silence, Sheldon with his eyes on his food, and Amy with her eyes alternately on her food and on Sheldon. By the time the meal was over, Amy had made her decision. There was no way she would be able to spend the next eight weeks with Sheldon and not attempt to find out the truth of the matter. Even if it meant reliving her initial pain, she had to know.

* * *

This was the greatest day of his life. After all his hard work, he was finally being recognized for the brilliant man that he was.

Sheldon walked up onto the stage in order to formally receive his Nobel Prize. He tried not to look out at the crowd, feeling his heart rate increase and his head start to spin at the mere thought of all those people out there.

_Keep calm, Cooper,_ he told himself for the umpteenth time. _You can't faint when you're being presented with a Nobel Prize in Physics_.

Despite his wish to retain impassive exterior, Sheldon found himself grinning from ear to ear as he was presented with his medal. It felt surprisingly heavy. In spite of his internal warnings not to do so, he found himself smiling out towards the crowd, searching for her but unable to see her in the glare of the spotlight.

In fact, it wasn't until he walked to his seat at the banquet that he found her, sitting next to his seat in the middle of an enormously long table.

Amy Farrah Fowler smiled up at him, causing his stomach to feel a strange dropping sensation. Sheldon puffed out his chest and held out his hand, smiling back at her.

"Per our Relationship Agreement, I believe you owe me a hearty handshake."

She nodded up at him. "Of course. Congratulations, Sheldon." She grasped his hand and shook it twice before letting go.

Sheldon took his seat, frowning as he realized that the handshake had not felt as satisfying as he had expected it to. He looked over at Amy.

Her hair was shining in the light as she looked over at him, shaking out her napkin and placed in on her lap. "I have to say, Sheldon, that I never doubted you'd win."

Sheldon smiled. "Really? Not that anyone should have had doubts, but it's nice to know that as my girlfriend you always believed it possible."

Amy nodded. "Of course. What sort of girlfriend would I be if I didn't support you in all your endeavors? And so what if that meant never getting to kiss you, or hold your hand, move forward in our relationship." She smiled at him, causing his stomach to flip again. "What's important is that you succeeded."

Sheldon frowned, looking down at the medal in his hand. He had everything he had wanted. He had won a Nobel Prize in Physics. He even had everything he hadn't thought he'd wanted: A brilliant girlfriend who was happy to take a back seat to his life's pursuit because she understood that he was brilliant, and that humanity deserved every discovery he could give them.

And yet, he found himself experiencing an emotion he had not expected: dissatisfaction.

But what did he have to be dissatisfied with?

He looked over at Amy again, and found himself with the urge to grab her hand. Feeling bold, he did so, grabbing her hand as he had that day, so long ago, when Howard Wolowitz had taken off into space. Amy looked over at him, surprised at first, and then smiled.

Sheldon looked down at their hands, reveling in the warmth and comfort Amy's hand provided…which was curious, of course, because normally Sheldon worried about touching another person's germy hands. But he found now that he didn't care. He enjoyed the feeling.

And yet…as he looked at Amy's eyes, he still wasn't satisfied. Something still wasn't right. He didn't like it. Amy cocked her head to the side, likely noticing his frown.

"Sheldon, is something the matter?"

Sheldon nodded, suddenly not caring about keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself. "I thought that getting a Nobel Prize would make me happy, but it hasn't."

Amy raised her eyebrows. "It hasn't?"

"Well…I am, of course, happy that I won. But what I mean is that I feel like I'm still missing something in my life. That's why I grabbed your hand. I had a sudden urge for physical contact with you and I acted. It was a momentary impulse."

Amy nodded. "I see. And has that made you happy now?"

Sheldon shook his head. "Oddly, no."

Amy made a face and shook her head. "Oh dear. How troubling. Perhaps I can help you discover the solution."

Sheldon nodded. "Very well."

Amy put a finger up to her lips, tapping them. Sheldon watched, slightly mesmerized, awaiting her next statement.

"Do you wish that your mother and friends were here?"

Sheldon shook his head. "They are here." He pointed over to the doorway, where all his friends, his mother, and even a few of his enemies, were all waving at them.

"Hmm…" Amy tapped her lips again. Sheldon watched her.

"Do you wish that you had received the Prize sooner?"

"Naturally," Sheldon replied. "But now that I've received it, I find that doesn't bother me."

Amy tapped her lips a third time, thinking. "Do you perhaps find that the receiving of the prize is hollow because you forsook moving forward in our relationship in the pursuit of something which could not possibly fill the void of lifelong rejection left by your peers?"

Sheldon didn't answer, but rather found himself staring at Amy's lips. "Perhaps." He was feeling bold again. "But I think the more specific cause of my current dissatisfaction stems from a primal urge to kiss you."

Amy raised her eyebrows, nodding. "Interesting. Then I suppose the only thing for you to do is kiss me."

Sheldon shrugged. "When you're right, you're right." Without thinking, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Amy's…

Sheldon's eyes suddenly popped open, his heart racing. He reached over and turned on his bedside lamp, eyes wide.

He swallowed, thinking frantically. It had merely been a dream. Dreams held no significance whatsoever. Had he not had plenty of insignificant dreams in his lifetime? He had once dreamed that he wished to go skydiving. When he had awoken, the feeling had, of course, dissipated immediately and he had come to the conclusion that the dream had been induced by watching that documentary on skydivers. This was no different…He had spent time with…Amy recently. This dream was merely a by-product of the time spent with her. Nothing more.

Sheldon closed his eyes, putting the palms of his hands over his eyes, attempting to suppress the memory of the dream. His chest pains, now seeming ever present, returned as he concentrated.

When he was satisfied that the dream was gone from his mind, Sheldon turned the light back off and lay back down.

But try as he might, he couldn't get back to sleep. Instead he found himself thinking about the fact that he was to spend the next eight weeks essentially living with…Amy. His mind blanked, as it had every time he had had the thought. It had been his idea, born of necessity, for them to live in closer quarters, but that didn't mean he liked the idea. It had merely been the most logical move, given the circumstances.

Not for the first time, Sheldon found himself second guessing his agreeing to care for…Amy. He wasn't sure he was up for it. For one thing, it would take away time from his work at CERN.

Almost immediately, his dream returned to the forefront of his mind, reminding him of his feeling of discontent after receiving his Nobel Prize. He frowned. It had merely been a dream. There was no reason to assume that he would feel the same when the time really came. In fact, he was almost certain that he would have no regrets about focusing his life on his work. He had been doing just that prior to meeting Leonard anyway, and he had been doing just fine up until that point. And it had only been after the severing of his relationship with…Amy that he had returned to his work in earnest. In fact, if he hadn't done so, then he wouldn't be here now. So, perhaps he should thank her then next time he saw her…which would be later today…when they were to go shopping.

Sheldon balled his hands into fists and closed his eyes. The fact of the matter was that he didn't want to be anywhere near her. Every time he was near her, his chest pain returned. Penny had said that it was related to…Amy. But Penny wasn't right. It wasn't related to…Amy, unless by "related" Penny meant that her mere presence caused his chest to tighten. But it was a much more likely theory that the chest pain stemmed from suppressing his desire to run away, not because he felt anything for…Amy. Because he felt nothing. He had long ago eradicated any fond feelings he had for her…

A voice, which sounded suspiciously like Penny, suddenly spoke up. _If you have eradicated all fond feelings for her, then why would being around her have any effect on you? Why do you have problems saying her name, even in your head?_

Sheldon clenched his jaw together, pressing the voice away. The voice was wrong. He felt nothing; his chest pains were not related to her; he did not have trouble saying her name. And he would prove it. He would see to the care of Amy Farrah Fowler for the next eight weeks and he would remain unaffected. His dream meant absolutely nothing.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I appreciate it. :)**


	17. Frustration

_One Week Later_

Amy sat at the tiny desk, checking her email and waiting for Sheldon to return home from work, the irony of the situation not escaping her notice. No more than seven months ago, she would have been happy to be waiting for Sheldon in an apartment which they shared. Now however, it was the last thing she wanted. As a result, it had been a very strange week.

To begin with, Sheldon had neglected to inform Amy that they would be moving into an apartment, or even that they were moving, until breakfast on the very day they were supposed to vacate their respective hotel rooms.

_"__What?" Amy asked, spoon halfway to her mouth._

_Sheldon responded with his eyes on his own food. "I said we are moving today."_

_Amy put her spoon down and tried to process the information. "Were you ever planning on telling me?"_

_Sheldon's eyes flicked up and then returned to his bowl, as he pressed his lips together. "Yes. I just did."_

_Amy shook her head slowly in disbelief. _

_"__Are we simply switching rooms? Or are we going to another hotel entirely?"_

_Sheldon took a drink of his hot chocolate. "Neither. We are staying in an apartment."_

_Amy just stared._

It had been moments like that that had reaffirmed Amy's belief that Sheldon was still simply self-involved. As such, her decision to figure Sheldon out was not proving easy. At times, like the previous example, she was certain he was still the same selfish man she had broken up with. Then there were exchanges like the one they had the first night in their shared apartment.

_Amy wheeled herself slowly and clumsily out into the living room to see Sheldon moving the desk chair to a corner of the room. _

_"__What are you doing?"_

_He briefly glanced in her direction, balling his hands into fists, and walking back towards the desk. "Removing this chair from in front of the desk."_

_Amy frowned, confused. "Why?"_

_He pulled the desk out. "If you are to use it for working on your computer, then the chair will need to be elsewhere." _

_Amy stared at him in shock, realizing that he had just made accommodations for her. "Thank you…but won't you need a desk as well for your work?"_

_"__No. I will be working in my bedroom."_

And then there had been her shopping trip last week. As requested, Sheldon had taken Amy to a shop in order for her to purchase some dresses to make for easier dressing. It wasn't until she had started looking at prices that she realized, given her current monetary situation, she would not be able to purchase more than one dress. She had vocalized her concern without thinking and, to her surprise, Sheldon had offered to pay for her clothes.

_"__Sheldon, don't be ridiculous." The last thing she wanted was to be indebted to Sheldon._

_His eyes flitted around the shop. "It's not ridiculous. You need clothes. You have no money. I do."_

Given her current circumstances, Amy had had little choice but to take Sheldon up on his offer. It was either be indebted to Sheldon or have Sheldon dress her every day. Neither option was in any way appealing, but Amy would much rather deal with a monetary debt than physically relying on another, especially Sheldon, to dress her. Amy had also recalled Sheldon doing something similar for Penny once, so she figured if her bestie could do it, then she could swallow her pride and do the same.

Amy had called her work the previous Friday evening to inform them of her circumstances and had been relieved to learn that she would still be able to work, and thus get paid, even from her current location. Luckily for her, her boss was willing to let her analyze data from experiments. It was little more than clerical work, but at least she didn't have to worry about not getting paid or losing her job.

Amy would like to say that being forced to spend time with Sheldon was getting easier, but in truth she still regularly felt a knot in her stomach whenever he was present in the apartment. In true Sheldon fashion, he had adopted a routine and had managed to drag Amy into it. The past five days went as follows:

1. Amy wakes up at 6:00.

2. Sheldon comes in at 6:05 to help Amy drag her useless leg around so that she can get into the wheelchair.

3. After wheeling her into the bathroom, Sheldon washes her hair and then leaves her to finish washing up while he prepares his bag for work.

4. On Monday, Wednesday, and today (Friday) Sheldon prepares whatever breakfast he has deemed appropriate for that day of the week. On Tuesday and Thursday they eat at the restaurant down the road.

5. Sheldon leaves Amy by the desk and goes to work.

6. Amy spends the rest of the day in the apartment until Sheldon returns either with the necessary groceries for _her_ to prepare whatever meal he has deemed appropriate for that day of the week (which she does only because she doesn't wish to eat out every meal), or to take her to the restaurant he has deemed appropriate for that day of the week.

7. Spend the following couple of hours reading/working/etc while Sheldon locks himself in his room to continue working/reading/etc.

8. Bedtime at exactly 10:00, in which Sheldon must again help Amy drag her useless leg into bed.

Thus it happens that the only time Amy spends outside of the apartment is to occasionally go eat a meal at a restaurant. Normally she was somewhat of a homebody, but as this was not her home, she was starting to go stir crazy. She was determined that this weekend, she would do some sight seeing, or really anything that did not involve being stuck in an apartment with Sheldon, with nothing to do.

* * *

Sheldon walked up the stairs to his shared apartment with Amy. Tonight's dinner was to be at one of the restaurants down the street. He had been happy to find that his and Amy's move from the hotel to the apartment had not uprooted him from the area to which he had become accustomed. As such, he was able to seamlessly integrate his old schedule with his new schedule. He found comfort in this, and he certainly needed it.

The past five days living with Amy had been taxing. Sheldon had redoubled his Kohlinar efforts after his disturbing dream the Friday prior, but was finding it difficult; in fact, in some ways it was proving more difficult than his initial Kohlinar sessions after Amy had cast him aside. At least then he had not found himself in constant contact with her; constantly around her; constantly forced to touch her. In fact, being forced to touch her was most definitely the worst. The resulting assault on his subconscious, sleeping mind was proving difficult to handle. Day after day this past week he had found himself waking from dreams similar to his disturbing dream of last Friday. As a result, more than ever he found himself turning to work as a welcome distraction. What had initially only been a favorite past time in Switzerland was quickly becoming the only time he felt like himself. It was maddening and he was very much looking forward to spending the weekend locked away in his new room working, reading comic books, and most definitely spending as little time as possible around Amy.

He reached the door to his and Amy's shared apartment and took a deep breath, steeling his mind for the evening ahead, determined to keep his promise to himself to remain unaffected.

* * *

Amy pushed food around on her plate as she contemplated her next statement. As usual, she found herself caught between the metaphorical rock and a hard place. Her options were as follows: (A) spend the weekend sightseeing with Sheldon, or (B) spend the weekend looking out the window while Sheldon most likely barricaded himself in his room.

She knew that option A was the lesser of two evils, but was also aware that getting Sheldon to agree to take her sight seeing was going to be tricky, if not impossible. She frowned down at her plate. She would just have to make him see reason. She wasn't a prisoner after all…although at times it certainly felt like it.

She cleared her throat and looked up, sitting up as straight as she could manage. "Sheldon, I wish to go sight seeing tomorrow."

Sheldon paused for a moment before looking up, yet not directly at her, and saying, "I don't see how that will be possible. You are unable to get around without help."

Amy closed her eyes and then re-opened them, taking a deep breath. "You can take me."

Sheldon gave a shocked double take, setting down his fork and placing his hands in his lap, and responded with, "No."

Amy blinked. She wasn't so much surprised by the no, as the fact that he said it with such conviction. "Why not?"

Sheldon's eyes flicked briefly to hers and she notice he clenched is fists before going back to eating. "I have work to do."

"You work every day and every evening."

"Yes."

"Well don't you need some time off?"

"No."

Amy rolled her eyes and considered letting the matter drop, since he was being frustratingly logical, but reminded herself that she absolutely did not want to spend the weekend in the apartment.

"Have you done any sightseeing since you've been here?"

"No." Sheldon put his fork in his mouth and began to chew.

"Sheldon, you're in a beautiful city in Europe and you haven't seen _any_ of the sights?"

"No."

Amy felt herself growing quickly annoyed. "Well, that's stupid."

Sheldon glanced up, pressing his lips together, but didn't respond. Instead he put another bite into his mouth. This only further annoyed Amy.

"Sheldon, I don't want to spend the weekend at the apartment."

He swallowed his bite and then paused a moment, as if considering, before shrugging. "I have work to do."

Amy could see that this argument was quickly going nowhere. "Your work is not so important that you can't take a day off to take me sight seeing. And frankly, you should take a day off. Given your constant chest grabbing, I'd say you're working yourself towards a cardiac arrest."

Sheldon looked directly at Amy then, caused her stomach to drop. He so rarely looked directly at her. "And how will my spending time with you stay my so called imminent cardiac arrest?" He looked away then, and Amy saw his hand start to reach towards his chest before he dropped it back down. She narrowed her eyes, considering the motion.

"It may not," she said after a moment.

"Then what is the point in my going sight seeing if it isn't going to help?"

"The point is that I can not, and will not, spend the weekend at that apartment with nothing to do."

"You have your work."

Amy rolled her eyes. "Yes, glorified clerical work. Very fulfilling."

Sheldon shrugged his shoulders and continued eating again. "Read a book."

"I have only the one I finished three days ago."

Sheldon shrugged again. "It is not my fault that you are ill prepared."

The edges of her vision began to blur in her rising anger. "Ill prepared? Sheldon, how was I to know that I would be stuck in Switzerland for eight weeks?"

"Fair point. But that does not negate the fact that it is not my fault."

Amy closed her eyes, getting angrier as tears began to form. "Sheldon, no matter how much I wish it weren't true, the fact of the matter is that I am stuck in Switzerland, with you, and the only way I am going to be able to leave the apartment for an extended period of time is if _you_ take me."

Sheldon frowned, looking confused. "I don't believe I said that it wasn't. But regardless, I have work." Amy noticed that his knuckles were white as they clenched around the fork. She looked up to his face, finding it in a passive expression. She looked back down at his knuckles. The death grip on his fork seemed to indicate that he was holding back some strong emotion, though what emotion, Amy had no idea. Though interesting, Amy was still angry and determined that Sheldon would not selfishly make her stay in that apartment.

"You can work on Sunday."

"No."

"Why not? It will allow you a day off." Perhaps she would appeal to his desire to succeed. "You will be better able to concentrate if your mind is refreshed. A day of mindless sight seeing will allow you to redouble your efforts at work the next day."

Sheldon paused, as though considering, and she saw him again press his lips together. He swallowed and his next words almost sounded like he was panicked. "I can't."

Amy stared for a moment, unsure what to make of his tone. "Why?"

Sheldon shook his head, resolutely picking up his fork. "It does not matter. What matters is that I am not willing or able to take you sight seeing tomorrow or Sunday."

Amy rued the fact that she was unable to stand up to make a dramatic exit. Experiment completed. Sheldon was nothing more than a selfish, self centered jerk. He cared nothing for her and never would. He only cared for himself.

_No. I will not stay here with him,_ she thought. She suddenly pushed her plate away and then began trying to maneuver her wheel chair around.

Sheldon looked up at her confused. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving," she fumed. She looked at him in the eyes, but he looked away. "You are the most self centered person I have ever met. You care nothing for anyone but yourself. I refuse to finish this meal with you."

"But how will you return to the apartment."

"I will find a way."

Sheldon paused. "If you can manage to find a way to the apartment, then surely you don't need my help to go sight seeing tomorrow."

Amy clenched her jaw, somehow surprised at his audacity. She resisted the urge to throw water in his face, surprising herself with the desire. Instead she began trying to wheel herself away, not looking back. It was difficult to maneuver herself towards the door, what with one leg sticking straight out in front of her, but luckily when she arrived at the door, someone held it open for her.

* * *

Sheldon watched Amy leave, surprised.

_Go after her,_ said the Penny-like voice.

_What sort of a gentleman refuses to help a lady in need?_ said the Mary-like voice.

Sheldon continued to stare, feeling conflicted. He didn't want to go after her. In fact, the sooner Amy became self sufficient the better. That would mean less time spent with her; less time being forced to touch her.

He clench his jaw and hands, ignoring the pain in his chest, as the image of Amy's angry face burned in front of his eyes, regardless of the fact that they were open. He fought the urge to listen to the voices of Penny and his mother, picking his fork up again to continue eating.

But out of nowhere Sheldon began thinking of what a long trek it would be for Amy to wheel herself to the apartment. And it would be uphill. What if she couldn't manage?

He shook his head, choosing to ignore the thought and putting a bite into his mouth. But he didn't chew. Instead he looked behind him at the door. What if she was accosted by some Swiss ruffians? He closed his eyes and sighed, stopping the waiter to request the check.

* * *

Amy was only several feet away from the door when her arms started burning from the exertion. Despite the chilly December air, she felt herself starting to break out in a sweat. It would seem that she was working upwards on a slight incline. She continued to push the wheels, but found it increasingly difficult.

Before she had reached the top, Amy felt her burning arms starting to give way. She tried to merely hold on to the wheels to stop herself from going backwards, but even that was proving difficult. She felt the wheels start to slip through her tired fingers and she started rolling down the incline.

To her surprise and distress, not one of the passers-by stopped to help the woman falling backwards in a wheelchair. She gripped her hands hard and stopped herself.

She found herself starting to tear up at the injustice of the situation. She was at her wits end. She had been independent for over ten years, and found being thrust back into dependency chaffing. She couldn't even make a proper dramatic exit without help. As her shoulders started shaking her weak fingers loosened and she found herself riding backwards down the sidewalk, again. Granted, given that it was only a slight incline, she wasn't traveling terribly fast, but she was also picking up speed.

Suddenly she came to a full stop, and started blinking in shock as she started moving forward. She looked up to thank her rescuer, but the words died in her throat when she realized her rescuer was Sheldon.

"What are you doing?" Despite feeling some gratitude at his helping her, she was still angry at his selfish refusal to take her out of the apartment.

He kept his gaze straight ahead, but looked confused. "Helping you." He looked down at her then and then paused. Amy then realized that she had been letting tears flow freely down her face and hastily brought her hands up to wipe the tears away.

"Are you injured?" He asked.

Amy turned back around. "No." She waited for him to continue wheeling her forward, but he didn't.

After several moments, Amy turned back around, ready to make a biting remark. But her anger was arrested at the look on his face. He was blinking down at her, appearing to concentrate. "Is this related to your wish to sightsee?"

"No. Yes. Sort of."

Sheldon blinked. "I don't follow."

Amy sighed, facing forward again, not wanting to explain herself. "Yes. It is related to my wish to sightsee."

When Sheldon didn't speak for several more moments, Amy, yet again, turned back around. He was looking ahead, as if having an internal struggle. Amy was about to interrupt him, when she saw him press his lips into a thin line and then look down at her. "Fine. I will take you out for half the day."

Amy stared in shock. Where had this come from? Before she could ask, Sheldon started pushing her forward. She turned around in her seat and decided that perhaps her experiment to discover the truth was not yet completed after all.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading. I'm soooo sorry about the delay. Life has been stressful and apparently stress doesn't breed creativity. Therefore I had terrible writer's block. But yay, it's fixed! I'm going to be going on vacation next week for a few days (woot for seeing a BBT taping!) but will be back to writing later in the week. Thank you again for your patience and for being awesome!**


	18. An Excursion

**A/N: Thank you very much for all your lovely reviews. They really do so much for my writing mojo. :)**

* * *

Amy lay in bed trying to go to sleep, but her mind was occupied with the events of this evening. Sheldon continued to present himself as a conundrum. He had been exceedingly self centered up until the point that Amy had stormed (or, more accurately, wheeled) out of the restaurant, but then he had ended up helping her avoid calamity and had ultimately agreed to take her sightseeing.

She sat up suddenly as a thought occurred to her. Now that she thought about it, the fact that he had been doing so much to help her through this debacle, regardless of the mandatory nature of it, was something she had not considered before. She frowned as it occurred to her that perhaps she had been acting a bit ungracious earlier. Yes, Sheldon sometimes made her want to scream in frustration, and yes he seemed at times to do the bare minimum to help her, but all the same, he had essentially uprooted his life here to help her.

Amy paused as the weight of that thought sank in. She had been so busy wallowing in her own suffering and self pity (vast as it is) that she had not properly taken the time to consider what suffering Sheldon had been through as a result of her accident (regardless of whether said suffering was a result of heartbreak or merely the upheaval of a schedule). In fact, he had not only been helping her, but Sheldon Cooper, selfish man that he is, had taken it upon himself to see that they had living arrangements which would allow him to adequately help her these next eight weeks, even though it meant moving from a spot in which he was already comfortable.

That was something.

And how had she been acting? Amy hunched her shoulders and put her head down. She was a little ashamed to think about it now actually. She had yelled, called him selfish, and stormed out of the restaurant, all because she wanted to go sightseeing. What a way to conduct herself in public. When had she become like this? She hadn't been one for overt displays of anger when she and Sheldon had been dating. She had nearly been yelling, for Pete's sake. She could practically hear her mother's scolding all the way from home. _When justified, anger is ok, but always remember a lady never raises her voice._

Amy sighed and closed her eyes. It would seem that in these past months of grief, during her attempts to move on from Sheldon, she had instead developed a subconscious bitterness towards him. What had happened to the woman of five months ago, whose sole dream was to eventually get back together with Sheldon? When had her dream turned to bitterness?

Amy fell back against her pillow and crossed her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes in the darkness. Well, she wasn't going to let herself become a Bitter Betty. Yes, Sheldon was frustrating, yes he was at best completely clueless and at worst completely self centered, and yes he had broken her heart, but he had also done much to see to her comfort and well being during this harrowing week and a half, and surprisingly he had done so with very little complaint. He did not deserve to have her blow up at him at every turn. Perhaps she no longer believed in her dream of reconciliation (after all, it had been seven months), but that didn't mean she couldn't be nice.

Amy was suddenly struck with inspiration and sat up again. She had taken to keeping her lap top next to her bed, for easy access. She opened it up and typed "Geneva tourist attractions".

She was still determined to get out of the apartment tomorrow, but that didn't mean she couldn't see to it that Sheldon enjoyed the sightseeing as well.

* * *

Sheldon stood in his bedroom, mentally preparing for the day ahead. Despite his wish to spend the entirety of the weekend in his room, away from Amy, he was now being forced to spend a few tedious hours taking her sightseeing. He sighed. If he had been interested in seeing the sights, he would have already done so.

He closed his eyes, steeling his mind, determined to make it through the day unaffected by Amy's presence. He opened his door, walking down the brief hallway to the living room. He and Amy had already completed their morning routine for her daily ablutions and he had been taking a few moments to gather his necessities (hand sanitizer, wet naps in case they ran across a place with hand driers instead of paper towels, emergency snacks in case a suitable place to eat could not be had, etc).

As he walked into the living room, he saw Amy take a deep breath and then smile at him and say "Are you ready to leave?"

He stopped, rooted to the spot, surprised and frowning as he contemplated this strange change of attitude. Earlier in the morning things had been the same as every morning this past week; only talk when necessary.

Amy cleared her throat and looked him square in the eye, causing his chest to constrict painfully. He ignored it. "Sheldon? Are you ready to leave?" she asked again.

Sheldon nodded, wary of her cheer. He walked slowly up to her, considering the most likely reasons for her change of attitude. Perhaps she had had an unusually restful night. Or perhaps she was planning his murder. He eyed her as he grabbed the back of the wheelchair and turned her around towards the door.

She looked back at him. "Don't you want to know where we're headed?"

Sheldon shrugged, keeping his eyes ahead. "It doesn't matter to me. I'm sure to hate it either way. Simply tell me which tram to take."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sheldon saw Amy look at him a moment longer before turning around to face the front and saying, "Very well."

It did not take him long to discover that traveling by tram was much more difficult when one member of the party was in a wheelchair than it was during his solitary daily commute. He was happy to discover, however, that the trams were at least wheelchair accessible. After embarking on the tram, Sheldon found a seat next to an open spot for Amy's wheelchair and sat there, staring straight ahead until he heard Amy say, "This next stop will be ours."

He nodded, signaling to the tram driver and then pulling Amy's wheelchair over to the lift. After they had successfully disembarked, Amy told him to walk north. As he walked, he started reciting his favorite amino acids in order from least favorite to most favorite, attempting to keep his mind occupied during this tedious expedition.

"Ok, we're here," Amy said, interrupting his thoughts. Sheldon looked around for a moment before focusing on the sign on the building on front of them. He took a step back in shock and then looked down at Amy. She had a small smile on her face as she looked up at him, causing his breath to hitch and his chest to tighten again.

He looked back at the sign. _Patek Philippe Museum_ it said. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

Amy breathed in deeply and then said, not looking at him, "I thought we might spend the morning looking at famous Swiss watches."

Sheldon blinked and then frowned, confused. "Why?"

Amy looked up at him, a slight frown on her face as well. "Don't you still like watches?"

"More specifically, I enjoy pocket watches."

"Well…but don't you find the idea of spending a morning traversing three floors of watch history and production rather interesting."

Sheldon glanced back at the building. "Naturally…but why do _you_ want to traverse three floors of watch history and production? I don't seem to recall an affinity for watches when we were dating." Sheldon swallowed at the last sentence.

Amy cleared her throat and looked down at her hands. "I thought it might be nice, since I insisted you take me somewhere, if we went some place that you might find interesting…by way of a thank you…for helping me."

Sheldon blinked in shock, unsure what to make of Amy's admission and thanks. So he chose not to respond.

He looked back at the sign on the building again, feeling himself get excited at the thought of all the interesting watches he would find inside and then frowning at himself. He was supposed to remain unaffected by Amy…But then again, he supposed he could still go to a watch museum and be excited by a watch museum and not be affected by Amy…there was no rule that said the two were mutually exclusive events.

Sheldon looked down at Amy, and then realized he was nearly grinning and immediately smoothed his face into a blank expression.

He cleared his throat, said "fine," and then proceeded to wheel Amy towards the door.

* * *

Despite the fact that Amy had decided on the watch museum for Sheldon, she couldn't help but find the place interesting. And who wouldn't? There were three floors full of facts about watches, information on how to make watches, and entire floors dedicated to watches made during different eras.

At first Sheldon was very quiet, merely looking at the watches and not commenting. Amy decided to let him dictate the pace, merely reading the little cards in front of the displays, and, on the occasions when Sheldon spent an inordinate amount of time examining a particular watch and/or fact, looking closely at the minute details of each watch. Naturally Amy had known there were several different types of watches, such as wristwatches, and pocket watches, but she had not realized just how many there really were.

It was after about an hour of walking around that, as Sheldon was examining an 1860's pocket watch, he suddenly started talking.

"Did you know," he said, nose pressed against the glass, "that Queen Victoria herself wore a pocket watch?"

Amy, surprised, waited for him to continue and when he didn't responded with "Oh?"

"Well…I suppose more specifically it was suspended from a broach, but the concept is the same."

"From a broach?"

Sheldon nodded, still not looking at her. "Yes. The broach was made of diamond and enamel and the watch was suspended from it. The broach then pinned on as any other broach does."

His eyes flicked over to her and then back at the display in front of him. "Fascinating isn't it?"

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Yes. It is, in fact."

Amy cocked her head to the side and watched Sheldon. An ache formed in her chest as she realized it had been over seven months since they had had such a normal conversation; over seven months since she had seen that look on his face. He looked sort of like a little kid in a candy store, wheeling her from display to display, looking as closely as he could at each of the watches in turn. She even caught him nearly smiling. She closed her eyes and swallowed. She could feel a thought forming and tried to squash it. She failed.

_I've missed that smile,_ she thought sadly.

She turned away from him, and chided herself. _Be that as it may, it does no good to miss anything about Sheldon_.

Amy proceeded to spend the rest of their time at the museum reading as many facts on watches as she could. Anything to keep her mind off of what it wanted to think about.

* * *

Sheldon just couldn't help it; he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Had he taken the time to realize that there was a watch museum in Geneva, he would most definitely have come sooner.

Pocket watches were just so fascinating. Naturally he had had a basic familiarity with them, after all they are the watch of choice for train conductors, but he had not ever delved into the specifics. But as he had had a wide range of pocket watches in front of him to stare at and critique, he had seen that pocket watch trivia was an area in which he was severely lacking. Thank goodness today's excursion had remedied the situation.

In fact, he had been so engrossed in pocket watch facts, that he had forgotten to maintain a cool distance with Amy and had begun recounting facts about Queen Victoria's watch. It hadn't been until after they moved on that he had even realized what he had done. He had not meant to socialize in any manner, but had been swept up in the moment, as it were. Thankfully, Amy had remained silent for the rest of the time.

Now they were both sitting in a restaurant eating their lunch before heading back to the apartment so that Sheldon could continue to his work, and keep his vow to spend as little time with Amy as possible.

As he spread butter on his bread, he couldn't help but realize that the outing had not been as distressing as he had anticipated. Rather, he had enjoyed himself.

Before he even realized he was thinking it, a thought slipped out of his mind.

_I've missed hanging out with Amy_.

Sheldon froze, bread halfway to his mouth, the sharp stab in his chest returning. He put his bread down, no longer interested in eating, and began trying to refute the statement. It wasn't Amy he had missed, but simple companionship. Perhaps he should call Leonard more. Or perhaps it had simply been the location they had gone to which he had enjoyed.

Sheldon frowned at these thoughts, as even though he wished they were true, he knew they weren't. As irritating as it was, he had indeed missed hanging out with Amy.

He became frustrated at the thought. Seven months of rigorous Kohlinar training and after one measly afternoon at a watch museum, it was all unraveling before his eyes.

Well…he supposed that _was_ a touch dramatic. But nonetheless this was very frustrating. Regardless of the fact that it was true, Sheldon would have none of it. He simply would not allow himself to once again be caught in the vixen's web. She was too dangerous. She tried to change him, to make him do things he didn't want to do…like hold her hand. She and her stupid experiments. And then when he had calmly and rationally explained that he no longer wished to engage in further experimentation, what had she done? She had dropped him quicker than a dirty sock.

Sheldon felt a particularly sharp stab in the chest. He had come to loath the sharp pains in the months past, but today he was almost happy to feel it. It was a reminder to him not to let himself stray from the path of logic. He shook his head slightly. No matter how hard he tried, he seemed destined to fail every attempt at achieving true Kohlinar.

He glanced at Amy, who was eating, eyes on her dish. He could see now that he would ever have to be on his guard around her. Not only was he having disturbing nightmares, all of which included some form of physical affection such as hugging, hand holding, or even kissing, but now he was finding himself missing her. He pressed his lips together. He couldn't let her get to him. He would simply have to redouble his efforts to remain emotionless.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading! :)**


	19. That Amy Girl

**A/N: Thank you as always for your reviews. And thank you also for your patience. I've found out the hard way that it's really difficult to write an angsty fic when you're happy with your ship. lol **

* * *

Mary was in the middle of tying ribbons on the church Christmas donation baskets when her phone rang. She walked over to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Mrs. Cooper. It's Penny."

She smiled. "Penny, darling! How are you? Well, I haven't talked to you in a good long while. Not since Shelly went crazier than a fruit cake."

Mary heard Penny chuckle. "Oh, you know, I'm fine."

"And how's Leonard doing? I bet he's enjoying his Shelly-free living."

"Oh, yeah. He's been whistling so much that I've kind of started sympathizing with Sheldon's no whistling rule."

Mary chuckled. That boy did have some strange ways…"Well, I'm guessing you didn't just call for a friendly chat. What can I do you for?"

"Um…I was just wondering if you had talked to Sheldon lately."

Mary thought for a moment. "Let me see…I believe the last time I talked to him, he was going to live in sin with that Amy girl in Switzerland. He called to give me his new telephone number…My word, I guess it's going on three weeks then."

"Oh…so you know that he's been around Amy?"

"Oh well, you know the boy. He was light on the details and then clammed up quicker than you could spit when I started asking questions. I meant to give him a call sooner, but you know how it is around Christmas. I just got so caught up in bein' Christianly at my church that time just plum got away from me. I assume he's done something again. Tell me what it is and I'll give him a call straight away to set things right. To be honest, I still don't understand how he ended up living in sin in the first place. That Amy girl's the reason the boy stopped talking in the first place, wasn't she?"

Her poor Shelly. Mary had never seen the boy heartbroken before…at least, not over a person. It wasn't a sight she had enjoyed. And, though she wouldn't have said so to Shelly, Mary had been quite a bit disappointed. With George off sowing his wild oats, and Missy giving it away to any man with smile, Shelly had somehow become Mary's last hope for some legitimate grandbabies.

She chuckled inwardly. _Never thought I'd say them words about Shelly._

"Yeah," said Penny. "But Amy had a good reason to break up with him."

Mary raised her eyebrows at Penny's defensive tone. "Darling, I don't blame Amy for breaking up with the boy. I love him more'n anyone else on this earth, save my other two children, but I can't blame her for dumping him when he refused to move forward. Good Lord, that ain't even a new reason to break up with a man. Women have been doing that for a lot longer than you or I have been alive. I'm just sorry Shelly has had to learn the hard way what pride can do to a person…again."

"Yeah," Penny said with a sigh. "It's been pretty brutal having a front row seat to the whole thing."

Mary nodded, forgetting that Penny couldn't see her. "Maybe you can answer a question of mine then, Penny," said Mary. "How on earth did those two end up living together? He didn't get her pregnant now did he?" She sincerely hoped not…but then again, Mary did want those grandbabies…

Penny laughed. "Oh god, no." Then her tone of voice changed from one of mirth to anxiety. "Amy broke her leg and couldn't fly home, so Sheldon has to take care of her."

"Lord love a duck," Mary gasped. "Pardon my language dear. That poor girl…" She frowned then as the second part of Penny's statement hit her. "Do you mean to tell me that my Shelly is taking care of that Amy girl?"

"Yep."

"On his own?"

"Yep."

"And they're not back together in a romantic fashion?"

"Nope."

"…and he's living with her?"

"Yep."

Mary sat down. "Well good lord. If I had known that was what was going on, I would've called him back sooner." Her little Shelly Bean was actually taking care of another human being. Mary had known, of course, that Sheldon felt strongly about that Amy girl, given his melt down after she called things off, but never had she known her boy to selflessly take care of another person. She was lucky to get him to agree to call his own mother on her birthday, Mother's Day, and Christmas.

"I'd best be giving that boy a call. How's he doing then?" Mary asked. She wasn't quite sure, after that news, what sort of a state her boy would be in.

"Well, that's why I called. Sheldon doesn't really talk to us. He hasn't called or skyped Leonard and I since right after Amy's accident. I've talked to Amy a few times, though. She seems ok, but she's…not the best person to ask about Sheldon."

Mary nodded again, even though Penny still couldn't see her. "I see. So you want to make sure he hasn't jumped right off into the deep end?"

Penny sighed. "Right. I mean…you were there after it all went down."

"Mmm." Mary sighed. It broke her heart to think about it.

"Penny, dear, I wanna ask you a question and I want you to be straight with me."

"Sure, Mrs. Cooper."

"How bad was it for that Amy girl?...After she dropped Shelly, I mean." Mary had gone to see Shelly twice in the beginning, but she had been so caught up in trying to get the boy to talk and move on, that she hadn't taken the time to properly find out how that Amy girl was doing.

Penny sighed. "Pretty bad…I'm not sure she's ever recovered. She dated someone else for awhile, though."

Mary raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah…it didn't work out too well. She couldn't even bring herself to kiss him."

Well this was some promising information. Mary shook her head. She really should have gathered this information earlier, but there had been that kerfuffle at the bar with George and then Missy had taken to living with that awful boy and then had _her_ heart broken, spending nearly every night over at Mary's crying over a boy who weren't worth crying over. Time had just…got away from her. George Sr. may not have won any awards for husband of the year, but at least he had always been there to lend her a hand with these three crazy children they had beget together…

"Mrs. Cooper?"

"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I just let my mind wander."

"Is everything ok?"

"Everything's fine dear. I was just thinking that I should have found out what was going on with that whole situation sooner."

"Oh don't blame yourself."

"Oh, I don't. I blame my other two kids and my dead husband."

"Oh…"

Mary sat up tall and straightened her shoulders. "Now don't you go worrying about Shelly. You leave him to me. I'm going to call him up straight away and then I'll get back to you so you can stop worrying."

Penny sighed. "Thanks, Mrs. Cooper. Leonard thinks I'm crazy to be worrying so much, but I can't help it. They were both so…sad after they broke up."

"Well, thank you for calling me."

"Of course. I'll talk to you later then, Mrs. Cooper."

"Alright, darling. Good-bye."

Mary hung up the phone. This had been a very enlightening conversation. Shelly obviously still felt strongly about that Amy girl, or else why would he be helping her? That boy knew how to hold a grudge longer than anyone had a right to. Good grief, he had even made himself a mortal enemies list when he was eight, and darned near every one of those people were still on that list…If he didn't still feel something for that Amy girl, then he sure as shootin' wouldn't be helping her out.

And if Mary had had any idea that that Amy girl had been having such a tough time, she might have stepped in sooner. There might be hope for legitimate grandbabies after all…

"Now where did I put that phone number…?"

* * *

Sheldon jerked awake when the phone started ringing. He frowned. _Who on earth would be calling in the middle of the night?_ He looked at the clock beside his bed and frowned. It was 1:43 in the morning.

He picked up the ringing phone, feeling irritated.

"Hello? Who is this? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Well, is that any way to greet your mother over the phone?"

Sheldon rubbed his eyes. "Mom? Why are you calling?"

"I just wanted to see how my baby is doing in them foreign lands."

"Mother, it's nearly two o'clock in the morning."

"Oh good, then you're not busy."

"I was busy sleeping."

"Shelly…" Sheldon sighed at his mother's tone. "What have I told you about sassing me?"

"I'm not sassing you, I'm just tired."

"Too tired to talk to your mama who's paying some ungodly amount of money to call internationally, _just_ to find out how her wayward son is doing?"

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "I'm not your wayward son."

"Whatever you say darling. So tell me, how are things?"

Sheldon paused. "Things are adequate."

* * *

_Pace yourself,_ Mary thought. _Remember what George always said. "Mary, you gotta take your time with Sheldon._"

"Well, that's nice. Tell me what you've been up to."

Sheldon didn't answer for a moment. "I've been working on my soon-to-be Nobel Prize winning work with CERN."

"I see. And how's that little Amy girl? You haven't been sinning have you?"

Sheldon didn't answer for so long that Mary wondered if she had gone too far too fast. Perhaps she should have kept him talking about that sciencey stuff for a while longer…

"Amy is adequate. And _no_ we have not been _sinning_."

Good answer. She could work with this. "Don't take that sarcastic tone with me, mister. You're living with a girl now, and you know as well as I do just how the Lord feels about unwed men and women living together."

"Mother, I don't care what your imaginary God thinks about my arrangement with Amy."

_Oh that boy!_ "Sheldon Lee Cooper! You know better than to call our Lord imaginary."

"But mom, he is!"

"Don't 'but mom' me! You are going to get yourself to the nearest church and attend a service." Perhaps she could make this reckless boy's sins work for her goal as well. "And you take that Amy girl with you. I want to make sure the two of you have a good helping of church to make sure you stay on the straight and narrow."

"Mother, I am not taking Amy to church."

"Don't you take that tone with me. You know our arrangement. So tell me, Mr. Smarty-pants, have you attended church at all this year?"

Mary heard Sheldon sigh on the other end. "No…"

"Well, then you'd best get to it. The year's near over. With Christmas coming up, I think it's best you attend a Christmas service with that Amy girl. It'll do you both good."

"Mooom, I don't want toooo," Sheldon whined.

Mary took this whining as a good sign. Her boy was finally starting to sound like his old self.

"Good Heavens, Sheldon. You'd think I was asking you to do something difficult. Just go to a Christmas service and take Amy with you. She probably needs to go just as much as you do." _Time to go in for the kill_. "And while we're on the subject of that Amy girl, Shelly, I'm glad she broke it off with you."

"What? Mother, how can you say that?"

"Because she wasn't good for you. She kept trying to get my baby to sin, what with all that experimentation she was doing. It's not good. I don't wanna hear that you've gotten back together with her, either. Do you understand me? You're better off without her. You just do what you gotta do to get her well and get her home. Then you can find another girl who's better for you."

"Don't be ridiculous. There is no other girl who's better for me."

_Thank you, Jesus!_

"Well, I'm sorry Shelly, but I still don't see it."

"And I'm sorry Mother, but whether you see it or not is still irrelevant."

Mary sighed dramatically. "Whatever you say, Shelly. Just promise me you'll celebrate Christmas at church."

Mary heard her son sigh loudly. "Fine. But I want you to know that I am not happy about it and I'm only doing it because we had a deal, _not_ because I believe in Jesus."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Shelly, one of these days you'll learn to just keep your sassy mouth shut."

"Not likely," she heard him mutter.

"What was that?"

She heard her son clear his throat. "Nothing…"

"That's what I thought. Now tell your mother you love her and I'll let you get back to sleep."

She heard him sigh again. "Do I have to?"

"Sheldon, you are staying in a foreign land, and I don't know how long it'll be before I can see you again, and you have broken my heart by declaring that our Lord and Savior is imaginary. I think I've earned an 'I love you' from you."

"Fine…I love you, mom."

Mary smiled. "I love you too, darling. Now you go back to sleep..." _Better say it one more time for good measure_. "And remember, don't go getting back together with that Amy girl."

"Good bye, Mother."

"Good bye, Shelly."

When Mary hung up the phone she smiled. _That went well_. She quickly said a little prayer for Sheldon and Amy. _With any luck, I'll have my legitimate grandbabies within the next two years._

Well…maybe that was pushing it just a bit.

* * *

**A/N: Sometimes, when Sheldon just won't listen to you, you have to just call Mary Cooper. Here's to moving forward! (and legitimate grandbabies within the next two years. ;) lol That's for Lio, who's just DYING for Sheldon and Amy to have kids. :P) Thanks for reading!**


	20. Christmas Conclusions

**A/N: Thank you as always for the lovely reviews. :)**

* * *

Amy watched Sheldon stare, unblinking, at his breakfast, the spoon half way to his mouth and starting to droop, idly wondering what he was thinking. He seemed even more subdued this morning than he has been in the past.

Over the course of the past three weeks, her and Sheldon's morning routine had begun evolving. Amy found herself able to do more on her own as the pain in her leg decreased. She had even finally, a few days ago, been able to take a proper shower. Two weeks ago she had been taken with the idea of learning to stand on one leg for extended periods of time and so, while Sheldon was off at work, she would spend a focused twenty minutes a day attempting to hold herself upright on one leg. When she had been confident that her uninjured leg was sufficiently strong enough, she had asked Sheldon to find some duct tape, or something equally strong, and trash bags, and had managed to keep her casted leg covered so that she could take a shower. It had been, in a word: glorious. Never in her life had she appreciated just how amazing a shower was until she had been forced into weeks of nothing more than sponge baths.

The result of her new found freedom and decreased pain had been that she relied on Sheldon less to help her. She only needed him now to help her move her leg into and out of bed in the mornings and evenings. She was now even able to hoist herself into and out of her wheelchair alone, and had begun using crutches around the apartment, though she still wasn't able to use them for very long.

The surprising part for Amy was how she now found herself missing the additional contact with Sheldon. Over the course of the weeks, they had managed to find, not quite a camaraderie, but a sort of distant comfortableness with each other. Following their initial Saturday outing to the watch museum, they had spent a part of each of the following Saturdays visiting other parts of the city. Amy had surprised herself a couple of weeks ago with the discovery that she looked forward to the excursions because it was the only time, aside from their morning and evening routine, when she spent time with Sheldon. He spent all of his time either at work, eating, or in his room doing more work.

The realization had left her confused; a confusion she still had not managed to work past. Despite everything that had happened between them; despite her lingering hurt; despite her better judgment, Amy found herself wishing that she and Sheldon could be friends again. It was a dangerous wish, as she reminded herself daily. Sheldon had not wanted to move forward in their relationship and there was no reason to believe things had changed. Rekindling their friendship would only lead to further heartbreak on her part, because no matter what, she would never be happy simply being friends. It was foolish. She was only asking for further rejection. She had spent the past eight months piecing her heart back together and she was risking a legitimate nervous breakdown should he reject her twice.

And yet, the desire lingered.

And as for trying to determine whether or not Sheldon had indeed also been heartbroken, Amy had yet to make a conclusion; the evidence continued to be conflicting. One day she might catch him looking at her, and then the next he would ignore her entirely, refusing to participate in anything but the most basic, necessary conversation. It was baffling.

As it was baffling now that he seemed so distracted. Usually when he was distracted by work, he would either write in the air or on the table with his finger. This morning he was simply staring. What was going on his mind?

* * *

Sheldon jerked slightly, and blinked at his bowl, realizing he had yet to take a first bite. He brought the spoon up to his mouth as he mentally shook himself.

He had been replaying the conversation with his mother for the umpteenth time. After hanging up with her, he had spent the latter portion of the night doing the same thing, with the result being that he had gotten almost no sleep.

_"Don't be ridiculous. There is no other girl who's better for me."_

That's what he had said. And he had meant it. Also for the umpteenth time he told himself that this was hardly news and that it didn't mean anything. He had known for much longer than last night that Amy was the only girl who could have induced him to enter into a pair bonded relationship. The fact that he had verbalized the thought to his mother did not negate the fact that he no longer wished to be in a pair bonded relationship with her. It only meant that he had no wish to be in _any_ pair bonded relationship.

_"Don't go getting back together with that Amy girl."_

That's what his mother had said. Why would she have made such a statement? What would have had her believe that he had any intention to enter into another relationship with Amy?

And what did she know? She had never understood his relationship with Amy. If he _were_ going to give pair bonding another chance, the _only_ person it would make sense to pair bond with, for the aforementioned reason, would be Amy. How could his own mother, who claimed to know him better than anyone, not see that Amy was the obvious choice for his girlfriend?

Not that he was considering it…of course.

Regardless of her initial qualifications, Amy had proven that she was a slave to her baser urges and that she was not above dropping him like the dirty sock which brought them together in the first place. He had tried to reason with her, and all she had done was take his rational thoughts for their future and stomped on them. He swallowed and felt a chest pain. Such pains had come and gone during the past month, always baffling him with their sudden appearances.

During those first harrowing days after coming in contact with Amy, Sheldon had seriously considered giving the doctors another chance to properly diagnose him. But then the pains had begun to recede in frequency, and he had changed his mind. But they still plagued him. One time he felt the pain when he happened to notice the reflective quality of Amy's hair. Another time he felt the pain when as Amy set a plate of spaghetti with little hot dogs in front of him. And still another time, he had merely been wondering when Amy would be returning to Pasadena. It was baffling. Penny had said that they were related to Amy, but he still believed she was wrong.

"Sheldon?"

Sheldon snapped his head up, feeling strangely guilty. Which was ridiculous. What did he have to feel guilty about?

"Are you feeling well?" Amy looked concerned.

Sheldon cleared his throat. "Yes. I feel fine." Why was she asking?

"Are you sure?"

"Have you ever known me to lie about illness?"

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Touche."

Sheldon returned his eyes to his breakfast bowl, scooping a second bite into his mouth.

"It's just…you seem distracted."

Sheldon looked up again as he chewed. He contemplated answering, but instead, returned his eyes to his bowl. If he didn't finish eating soon, he would miss his tram and be late to work.

He ate in silence for a few minutes when Amy suddenly spoke again.

"Do you realize Christmas is in two days?"

Sheldon closed his eyes as another part of his conversation with his mother entered his mind. _"Just go to a Christmas service and take Amy with you_."

He glanced at Amy, replied "yes", and shoveled another spoonful into his mouth.

"Do…Were you planning to do anything to celebrate?"

Sheldon looked at Amy in confusion. "You know I have no desire to celebrate Christmas, and if I recall correctly, aside from not being opposed to the notion of a deity, neither do you."

He returned to his meal, now over halfway finished.

"So you aren't planning to do anything?"

Sheldon glanced at Amy again. "I never said that."

There was a pause. "So you _are_ planning to do something?"

Sheldon shrugged. "Not by choice."

Another pause. "What are you doing?"

"I promised my mother I would attend a Christmas church service."

"You're going to church?" Sheldon looked up at the surprise in Amy's voice. Her eyebrows were nearly at her hairline.

"As I said, not by choice."

Sheldon ate in silence for several more minutes before Amy spoke, yet again.

"May I attend with you?"

Sheldon looked up, shocked. His mother's voice popped into his head. _"…and take Amy with you."_

"If you wish to spend a perfectly good hour of the day at church, then who am I to stop you?"

"Actually, I believe the common practice is to attend a midnight mass."

Sheldon blinked at her. Church in the middle of the night? He shook his head. What did it matter? He would not be going to work Christmas, as everyone was given the day of…whether they wanted it or not.

"Fine. If you wish to attend church in the middle of the night, then who am I to stop you?"

As he returned his eyes back to his breakfast, he saw Amy smile, and felt another chest pain. Baffling.

* * *

Amy wheeled herself out late on Christmas Eve to find Sheldon already waiting in their living room. She swallowed hard at his appearance. Apparently his mother had instilled in him the concept of one's "Sunday Finest". He was wearing a black suit, complete with tie, and his hair was damp and freshly combed. The last time she had seen him dressed so fine had been at Howard and Bernadette's wedding.

Amy was suddenly feeling even more underdressed in her every day dress, but she had had little choice what to wear. She had exactly four dresses, none of which qualified as dressy. The best she had been able to do, in order to feel dressier than the average day, was to pull her hair partially back and apply some lip gloss.

Without a word, Sheldon walked behind her and began wheeling her out the door. They spent the entire travel time in silence, each lost in their thoughts. Amy still wasn't exactly sure what her motivation had been when she asked if she could attend church with Sheldon. She would like to believe it was motivated by a simple desire to get out of the apartment, but Amy couldn't help but realize that wasn't the only reason. As she had lain in bed that evening, she had come to the unfortunate conclusion that her motivation had been a simple desire to spend time with Sheldon.

As they made their way to a pew in the back of the church, Amy again told herself that her desire was a foolish one. Sheldon set her chair next to the pew, as she would be unable to sit in one with her casted leg, and sat down at the end next to her.

Looking for any reason not to look at Sheldon, Amy began looking around her, only then noticing just how beautiful the church was. Given that they were in such an old country, Amy could guess that the church was many hundreds of years old. And while she was not one to fawn over the arts, she couldn't help but take notice of the fact that the church itself could easily be considered a work of art.

Amy looked over at Sheldon, wondering if he was also noticing the beauty surrounding him, but he was merely staring blankly towards the front.

* * *

Sheldon placed his hands on his pants legs to help dry them off. For some unknown reason they were damp. He swallowed and closed his eyes. What on earth was going on?

He stared straight ahead, determined not to look towards Amy again. As she had been looking around, Sheldon had looked towards her. Her mouth had been open as she had apparently been taken in by the artwork and sculptures found around the building. Before he had known what he was doing, Sheldon had found himself enjoying the look on her face, the way her hair shimmered in the low lighting. He had even had the sudden, inexplicable urge to reach over and place his hand in hers. When he had realized his line of thinking, he had immediately squashed it, turning to face the front. He was tired. It was late; well past his bedtime. That was the only explanation. That and the fact that he was still having those ridiculous dreams almost every night; dreams in which he and Amy were still boyfriend and girlfriend; in which she had never left him; in which he would lean over and kiss her. He swallowed. It was absurd.

Sheldon began reciting multiplication tables, continuing through the entire church service. Even if he had wanted to participate, over half of the service was in French. When it became apparent that the service was over, Sheldon stood up and, without looking at her, started wheeling Amy back towards their shared apartment.

* * *

As they made their way back to the apartment in silence, Amy pondered the meaning of forgiveness. She had no clue what the church service had been about, aside from the assumption that it involved the story of the Christ, as it had been entirely in a combination of French and Latin, a language she had only a rudimentary understanding of, but as she had listened to the prepubescent children singing, Amy hadn't been able to help but ponder forgiveness. She had learned enough about the Judeo-Christian religion to know that its basis was in the realm of forgiveness for wrongs.

She had begun thinking about the last eight months and everything that had happened. She had been so consumed with her own pain during that time and had now determined that, no matter whether it had been during the time she had desperately wanted to date Sheldon again or during the time in which she had been bitter towards him, she had blamed Sheldon for her pain.

But was he the only one to blame? She thought about what Penny had told her; about the possibility that she had hurt him as well. There was no denying, after all, that it had been she who had broken up with him, and not the other way around. Perhaps she had been too impatient, too hasty in breaking up with him. Perhaps she had given up too easily. She tried to recall the exact tone of his voice, or the look on his face, but, likely due the intervening months, she couldn't be sure if her memories of how he acted were the actual truth of events, or an image her mind had conjured to fit her own feelings about the situation.

This caused Amy some discomfort. What was the truth of the situation? All she knew at this moment was that she was no longer sure he was entirely at fault for her pain, and that her desire rekindle a relationship was growing. She thought of everything he had done for her during her time in Geneva. By anyone's standards, Sheldon had gone out of his way to make sure she was at least comfortable and had her basic needs taken care of.

When they arrived at the apartment, Amy realized just how tired she was. Apparently, so was Sheldon, as he immediately wheeled her towards the bathroom, so that she could brush her teeth. As he did every night, he left her in peace and walked towards her bedroom to wait for her.

After her teeth were brushed, Amy changed out of her dress and into her nightgown, which she now always kept in the bathroom, for easy access at night. When she had completed her nightly ablutions, she wheeled herself into her bedroom. Sheldon was standing at the foot of the bed, staring into space, her covers already pulled back.

Amy made her way out of the wheelchair and sat on the edge of the bed. Sheldon moved the wheelchair to the side and then reached down wordlessly to grab Amy's legs and help her slide them into bed.

After she was sufficiently tucked in, Sheldon turned around wordlessly, and walked towards the door.

During this entire endeavor, Amy had continued thinking about forgiveness. As he started walking towards the door, Amy was taken with a sudden urge and said, "Sheldon, wait."

Sheldon stopped and then turned to look back at her, his face surprisingly devoid of emotion, even for him.

"Are you in need of something?"

Amy swallowed, feeling nervous. What if he scoffed at her? What if he refused to accept what she had to say?

"Well?"

Amy started fidgeting with her hands, unable to keep her eyes on his face. "I…wanted to say something."

She was met with silence and looked up. He was still staring at her, emotionless. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry…"A crease appeared between his eyebrows as a confused look crossed his face. She continued on "I'm sorry for hurting you…if I hurt you, I mean."

Sheldon's lips parted in shock, the crease smoothing out as his eyes widened. She waited for him to say something.

After several tense moments, Sheldon closed his mouth, swallowed and then nodded, immediately turning on his heel and walked out the door.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so very much for reading. :)**

**Amy's Playlist: "Temptation" by Diana Krall**


	21. Breaking Point

**A/N: Thank you so much for your continued support. :)**

* * *

Sheldon brushed his teeth in a haze, completing his nightly routine by way of unconscious habit.

_"I'm sorry for hurting you…"_

The phrase kept repeating in his mind, leaving his emotions in such a state that he couldn't even begin to figure them out. In fact, he mused, he might be having a panic attack. His pulse was elevated and his breathing was erratic. He considered going to the nearest urgent care, if such a thing existed here, but he already knew what they would say. He had a basic familiarity with everything, after all. They would merely point out to him that a panic attack is usually precipitated by an emotional trigger. He might as well save his time and money.

He walked quickly to his bedroom, feeling his heartbeat pulsing in his eardrums, and crawled underneath the covers, still in his suit, minus the tie, jacket, and shoes. He curled into the fetal position and pulled the covers over his head, wishing he could cover the calamity in his mind as easily as he could the light in his eyes.

_"I'm sorry for hurting you…"_

For once in his life, Sheldon's mind was blank. And yet it was also swirling. In fact, he was reminded of all the times he had been in an oppressively crowded room, unable to hear what anyone was saying and yet unable to block out the oppressive noise of hundreds of people all talking at once. He couldn't think except to hear Amy's voice saying that same phrase over and over.

Sheldon put the palms of his hands up to his ears and pressed hard at his head, wishing he could block out the phrase. He feebly tried to tell himself, as he had many times before, that she hadn't hurt him, but found himself lacking the mental strength to do so.

As the realization that Amy had indeed hurt him struck, Sheldon suddenly found it difficult to breath. He gasped for air, throwing off the covers, frantically trying to unbutton his shirt. He was definitely having a panic attack.

Somehow this admission helped him focus. What had he read about panic attacks? _Think!_ Despite the overwhelming urge not to, Sheldon closed his mouth and started trying to breathe in through his nose. The breaths were erratic, and he seriously considered giving up and giving in to the attack. Using what little strength he had left, he managed force himself to start taking longer slower breaths. He felt light headed, threw his legs over the edge of the bed, and put his head between his knees. Perhaps he should rethink his decision not to go to Urgent Care.

But who would take him? Leonard was not here and he couldn't take himself. He supposed he could take an ambulance, but he wasn't sure he trusted those tiny foreign ambulances. They looked too much like a death trap waiting to happen. One accident and the entire thing would likely be crushed like a large aluminum can.

Sheldon realized that his light-headedness was gone and sat up. He sat for a moment, hands on his knees, before getting up and properly changing into his pajamas.

Amy had hurt him. Sheldon stopped, one hand in his pajama top, and closed his eyes, feeling his light-headedness begin to return. After a moment he put the other arm in his pajama top and finished getting dressed. He returned to his bed, turning off the lights this time, but still lying on his side, knees curled up to his chest.

He swallowed, his heart still beating fast.

Amy had hurt him.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the memory of that horrific day took front and center in his mind. He opened his eyes in an attempt to block out the memory, but in the darkness, it did little to quell the image. He held his breath, in an attempt to prevent a further panic attack, as the memory of her walking out the door began playing on a loop in his mind.

Suddenly he felt a tightening in his chest and a stinging in his eyes, and before he knew what was happening he gasped and felt a tear roll down his cheek. He gasped again, and before he knew what was happening, he was sobbing.

She had hurt him. She had left him. She had refused to return his emails, texts, tweets, and had unfriended him on Facebook. She had signed an agreement with him to be his girlfriend. She had signed it! He had told her to get a lawyer! If she hadn't wanted to agree to it, then why had she? She knew what she was getting into! He had left nothing hidden. And yet, when he had rationally told her his _feelings_ on the matter of moving forward, she had dropped him. Immediately. And had never looked back. She had even dated another man.

Sheldon continued sobbing, unable to stop as months upon months of pent up anger, hurt, and betrayal washed over him. Every thought he had squashed, every emotion he had pushed down came bubbling up to the surface, leaving a trail of hot tears on his face.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually his sobbing subsided, and he was left breathing heavily and occasionally hiccupping. He felt spent. Never in his life had he felt so exhausted, and yet he still wasn't falling asleep. Instead, he was warily considering himself. What was he going to do? Was this the first of many mental breaks? He had often heard, though never quite believed, that crying was supposed to be cathartic, and yet the only things he felt were blocked sinuses, burning eyes, and a strange hollowness in his chest.

How was he going to face Amy in the morning? The thought suddenly popped into his mind. Things had, yet again, changed between them. Amy had admitted fault to this entire debacle that had been their lives these past eight months. But what did her admission mean, if anything? Perhaps it meant nothing. Perhaps she was merely trying to clear her own conscience. After all, she had apologized after attending a church service. Sheldon had witnessed many such instances over the course of his childhood and early adolescence. Bullies would approach him after a particularly "damning" sermon, and apologize, only to return to stuffing his head in the toilet the following day at school.

_But when has Amy every treated you like a bully?_

The thought entered his mind and he couldn't shake it. It was true…at least he thought it was. Up until the point when she left him, Amy had never done a single thing to hurt him. She had been his great friend and his girlfriend, and he had never had reason to doubt that she would remain so for the undefined future. But then she had dropped him; dumped him; given up their very friendship. She had become worse than a bully. She had taken his trust and thrown it in his face. He had thought he could trust her to understand his feelings, but instead she had left him at the drop of a hat. No bully had ever hurt him as much, because he had never trusted his bullies. He had known where he stood with them and where they had stood with him, with mutual disdain on both sides.

But now he did not know where he stood with Amy. These past four weeks they had been maintaining a cool distance from each other. Sheldon had made a point of only doing the bare minimum to ensure that Amy was comfortable. But then she had insisted they sightsee every Saturday, and he had found himself enjoying her company again.

He thought of his dreams; dreams in which he would casually lean over and kiss her. He thought of all the times in the past month when he had had to resist the urge to touch Amy.

_Perhaps this had been how she had felt, all those months ago._

Sheldon's mouth popped open at that thought. Was that what their relationship had been like for Amy? Always the urge for physical contact from the opposite party, with the knowledge that it would likely never happen? What a horrible way to live life. Sheldon felt a strange sense of empathy for Amy, in that moment.

Now what?

Sheldon asked himself this question again, still unable to determine the answer. Where was he? He had never been able to decipher complex emotions, and now was no exception.

What were the conclusions he had made thus far? Amy had hurt him; she had taken his trust and thrown it in his face; and he had desired on occasion to touch her.

One of these three pieces of information seemed to be conflicting with the other two. He was hurt and could not trust her, and yet wanted to touch her?

Before Sheldon could continue his line of thinking he heard a loud thump from the direction of Amy's room.

* * *

Amy lay on her back on the floor, her feet still on her bed. She had awoken with the urge to pee and hadn't known how to indicate this to Sheldon. Shockingly, this was the very first time she had awoken in the middle of the night with the urge. And so, she had foolishly decided to attempt to get out of bed herself. She had positioned the wheelchair in such a way that she would be able to back into it, thus negating the need to drag her leg to the side and over the bed first. Sadly, as she was about sit her bottom in the chair, it had rolled backwards, leaving her on the floor, vaguely wondering if she had bruised her spinal cord.

She heard footsteps and then her door open. She looked at Sheldon upside down. His hair was in disarray, he had the shadow of stubble on his face, and his eyes were wide.

"Amy! What are you doing on the floor?"

Amy tried to move her head so that he wasn't upside down. "I have to urinate, and was trying to do so on my own. Unfortunately my crutches are in the living room, and I was unable to reach the locks on the wheelchair."

Sheldon frowned angrily at her. "So you decided to jeopardize your recovery by foolishly attempting to get into an unlocked wheelchair?"

Amy didn't immediately respond, so shocked was she by his anger. "I…didn't want to wake you."

Sheldon pressed his lips together and then walked over and knelt down. "Don't move for a moment. We need to make sure you haven't injured your spine."

Amy frowned as she got a good look at his face. His eyes were red and puffy and his skin was blotchy. It almost looked as if he had been crying.

"I don't have a pen on hand at the moment, so I will have to use my fingernails. Please tell me if you can feel them."

"Sheldon, I hardly think one fall would leave me paralyzed. I can feel my feet."

He didn't answer, instead poking her toe with his nail. She giggled, as the sensation tickled, and Sheldon's frown deepened.

"This is hardly a laughing matter."

"I apologize. It tickled."

Sheldon didn't respond, and Amy again wondered at his anger.

When he seemed satisfied that she hadn't permanently injured her spine, Sheldon grabbed hold of her two legs and gently pulled them off the bed. Amy pushed herself into a seated position and Sheldon put his hands underneath her armpits and pulled her upright, setting her on her bed again. He went to retrieve the wheelchair and then held it in place so that Amy could get in it. Without giving her the chance to do so herself, Sheldon quickly wheeled Amy towards the bathroom.

When she completed her business, she opened the door to find him still there, with his arms crossed. He immediately grabbed hold of the wheelchair and again wheeled her quickly to her room. She could feel the anger and tension radiating off of him, and she wondered what had brought it on.

After she returned herself to bed, and Sheldon helped place her legs back in position, he walked quickly towards her door.

"Sheldon, wait."

He paused a moment before turning back around. "Yes?"

Amy considered him for a moment. "Are you alright?"

"Why do you ask?" he deadpanned.

Amy swallowed. "You…seem upset."

Amy waited while he merely stared at her for so long she thought perhaps he had no intention of speaking. She was beginning to wonder if maybe she should have just let him leave when suddenly he spoke.

"Why did you say you were sorry?"

Amy was startled by the undertone of accusation in the question. "Because I am."

"But why did you say it?"

Amy blinked, unsure how to respond. "I don't understand what you mean. Why does anyone say they are sorry? Because they are."

Sheldon stared for a moment, eyes narrowing, anger now positively radiating off of him.

"Why are you sorry?" He finally asked.

"I…" Amy was at a loss of words, having never seen this side of Sheldon. "I didn't break up with you because I wanted to hurt you."

"Then why did you?"

"You know the answer to that."

Sheldon suddenly deflated, shocking Amy even further. She expected another bitter retort, but instead his next words sounded sad. "Yes…I do."

He turned around to leave but Amy stopped him. "Wait." He turned back around. She looked at him curiously. "Why do you think I broke up with you?"

Sheldon stared at her for a long while before speaking. "Because…I meant less to you than the physical desires you were seeking."

Amy's mouth fell open in shock and she was unable to regain her voice quick enough to stop him from going out the door.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading. This chapter is dedicated to ChaliceInnana, who asked for tears (not that I didn't actually already have this one planned out. ;)). Also, a warning that we're pretty close to the end of this fic.**


	22. Confrontation

**A/N: I continue to be amazed and humbled by your support. Thank you so very very much. I've been updating pretty quickly these past few days so if you start reading and you're confused, try going back a chapter. :)**

* * *

Amy regained her voice a few seconds later.

"Sheldon!" She waited, and when he didn't come back she yelled again. "SHELDON!"

She waited again. When it became apparent that he wasn't returning, she felt herself grow angry. That's what he thought? He blamed _her_ for their breakup? He thought she cared more about hand holding and kissing than their relationship?

She looked around, mentally cursing her situation. She was helpless, had been helpless for a month, and it made her angry. She didn't have the luxury of storming after him.

She clenched her jaw. She was not waiting until morning to continue this conversation. She reached down and jerked her casted leg, gritting her teeth as her bones protested at the rough treatment, and threw it over the side of the bed. She took a moment to let the pain recede before standing up and hopping slightly towards her wheelchair. She backed it up a bit so that it was partially resting against the nightstand and then turned around and sat down. Then she immediately wheeled towards Sheldon's closed bedroom door, her leg throbbing almost as much as her head.

When she reached the door, she pounded on it. "Sheldon! Open up!"

Almost immediately the door was thrown open, Sheldon looking down at her in surprise. "How did you get out of bed?"

"Who cares!" She yelled and then paused as she took in his appearance yet again. He looked…rough. When she spoke again, she attempted to moderate her tone, though she was no less angry. She knew how he felt about arguing, having had to deal with listening to the screaming matches between his parents as a child, and she knew that if she wanted him to respond she would have to control herself.

"What do you mean I cared less about you than my desires?"

Sheldon looked at her for a fleeting moment, before he looked out over her head. "I would think the statement speaks for itself."

"Where did you get an idea like that?"

His eyes snapped to her. "What do you mean? You wanted to move forward in our relationship and I didn't. When I said so, you immediately left me. The entire conversation prior to your exit was about whether or not to move forward in the area of physical contact."

"I don't think you're recalling the circumstances correctly."

"Don't be ridiculous. I have an eidetic memory. I remember everything…" He looked away and continued almost as if to himself, "in vivid detail."

Amy snapped at him. "Then I suppose you remember that I told you I didn't want to go backwards. I told you that I wanted to move forward with _you_. It was _you_ who refused to budge on anything. You were so set on focusing on your work, you didn't care where that left me. It's _you_ who cared so little for me."

Sheldon looked at her for a moment and she could see him start to mentally recede from the conversation. "Then we are yet again at an impasse."

He started to shut the door, but Amy leaned forward and smacked her hand against it. "No! We are not finished talking."

Sheldon looked at her hand in shock and then up to her face.

"You can't just shut a person out the minute you disagree," she said, attempting to soften to her tone and not quite succeeding.

"And you can't force a person to continue an argument they have no wish to continue."

Amy let out a cry of frustration, feeling angry tears start to burn at the back of her eyes. "Do you enjoy living like this?" When he continued to only look at her in confusion, she continued, gesturing with her free hand. "Like this. This…this…weird arrangement we have. We live together, you helped me wash my hair, help me get in and out of bed, and yet we haven't had a single real conversation in a month. Tell me that this doesn't bother you."

She saw him press his lips together and took it as a positive sign that he was getting upset again. She preferred anger to ambivalence at this point. She continued on. "How can you just shut everyone out? Leonard and Penny are your friends! They care for you! How can you be so callus?"

Sheldon narrowed his eyes. "Callus? I'm not the one who was callus. You claim that I didn't care and yet it was _you_ who un-friended me on Facebook. I called, text, and tweeted you a total of eighty-six times and you failed to respond to every single one of them. You say that I was the one who gave up? That you cared for me? Then why did you refuse to speak to me?" His voiced cracked on the last word, and he looked away. "I wasn't the only one who shut people out."

Amy leaned back in shock, and when she spoke again, her anger was all but gone. "I had to shut you out." Sheldon gave her a blank look and she could see him mentally receding again. She swallowed and kept talking. "I had to shut you out because if I didn't, I would never have been able to let go. You say I didn't care about you? I cared too much. It broke my heart to leave you, and if I had thought there was any way to convince you to move forward, I would have taken it." Sheldon's face remained blank but she thought she saw something resembling pain in his eyes. She waited.

He wordlessly stared at her for so long that she began to think he had no intention of responding. Then she saw his eyes flit downwards towards her lips and back up at her eyes. "You dated Stuart."

Amy felt the air leave her lungs at the tone of accusation in his voice. "Sheldon-" she started, but was interrupted.

"You dated Stuart." He said again, frowning at her. "I assume you got what you wanted?"

Amy blinked, stunned at the hardness in his voice. In fact, she felt stunned by this entire conversation. This was a side of Sheldon she had never seen.

"I…" Amy struggled for words, feeling hurt at his accusation; wanting to tell him everything about her relationship with Stuart but not knowing how to begin.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Sheldon said, "but I have always understood, from various books, movies, and songs, that dating a second person means a person no longer has romantic feelings for the first person they were with."

Amy didn't know why she felt guilty. She had not been in the wrong. They had been broken up and she had been well within her right to attempt to find happiness elsewhere, even if it had ended up failing. She felt herself grow defensive.

"I was well within my right to seek happiness elsewhere. We were broken up."

Sheldon closed his eyes and then turned around. Amy felt a moment of panic. Despite her own hurt and anger, she didn't want to leave it like this. She had to make him understand.

"I never kissed Stuart," she blurted out.

At first Sheldon merely kept his back to her and she wondered if things were too far gone; perhaps there was too much hurt and no hope left for them. But then he turned slowly around and looked at her, his eyes slightly wider than before. Amy continued talking.

"I…never could bring myself to do more than kiss his cheek." She looked at him, pleading for him to understand. "We never did more than hold hands."

Sheldon stared for a moment before asking, "Why?"

Amy swallowed, afraid to open herself up to further rejection. "Because..." She took a deep breath, "Because I never got over you."

She held her breath, anxiously waiting for his response, unable to read his face.

"And have you now?" he asked.

She ran her tongue nervously across her lips and took a breath. "Have you?"

She expected him to retreat, or to scoff, or respond with "I asked you first", but he did none of these things. Instead he slowly shook his head.

Amy stared at him with wide eyes, her emotions in an uproar and a sort of dull rushing sound in her ears. He had just admitted that he wasn't over her? The implications here were that…he had feelings for her.

She blinked when she realized that her eyes had dropped to his lips. She looked back up at his eyes to find him staring at her.

"I know how you felt…" He didn't respond except to blink, so she bumbled on. "…about feeling pressured into physical contact I mean. I…" She took a deep breath and then the words came tumbling out. "I knew that Stuart and everyone expected me to take the next step, but I just didn't want to, and I panicked every time we came to the door after a date because I knew he was expecting it and to his credit he never pressured me, but I felt badly for never being able to do it and at the same time I felt guilty every time I contemplated it and mostly I just wanted the pressure for physical contact to be gone, but I didn't know how to say that to anyone, least of all myself, without someone ending up hurt, but the truth of the matter is that every time I thought about kissing someone who wasn't you I only ended up sad."

Amy stopped and took a breath, heart pounding at her confession. She saw Sheldon breathing heavily, but couldn't begin to guess what was going on in his mind.

* * *

_She never kissed Stuart,_ Sheldon thought, staring at Amy in her wheelchair. _It made her sad to think of kissing someone who wasn't me._

Where earlier he had felt a hollowness, Sheldon now felt a fullness in his chest. He knew enough about emotions to know that his feelings were strong, but they were so strong and so many that he could not even begin to sort them out.

"You didn't answer my question," he said.

Amy's brow furrowed in confusion. "Which question?"

"Are you over me?"

He saw Amy swallow and look down at her lap. "I…no."

He blinked, unable to process her answer. In fact, he didn't know how to process any of this information. Amy had never kissed Stuart; she claimed to have cared too much for him; she said she knew how he felt; she wasn't "over him".

And he wasn't "over her" either. He had said this to her…or at least had shaken his head to indicate that's what he thought. He wasn't sure how he knew it to be true, but he did.

"Where does this leave us?" Amy asked.

He looked at her, feeling his heart thud in his chest. He couldn't think. He was spent. It was some ungodly hour of the night and he had been crying earlier. He had gone from being angry to not angry. There were too many emotions and he couldn't even figure out if they were positive or negative. The only thing he was certain of was that he was confused.

He shook his head slowly.

"Do you think," Amy began, biting her lip and furrowing her brow, "that maybe we could start being friends again?"

Sheldon felt his breathing rate increase again as even more emotions crammed themselves inside his chest. Could he be friends with Amy again?

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. He saw her shoulders sag, and had the sudden urge to comfort her. "I'm telling the truth, not simply providing a purposely ambiguous answer."

She looked up and nodded. "I know."

He continued looking at her as his mind whirled. All he really wanted to do at this moment was sleep. This brought to mind his recent dreams.

"I know how you felt as well."

He had said it before he thought it through, and now he was instantly regretting it.

Amy appeared confused. "What do you mean?"

Sheldon cleared his throat, trying to think of a way to avoid answering the question, but his mind kept coming up blank.

After a few moments, Amy spoke again. "Sheldon? What are you referring to?"

He closed his eyes and then opened them again, feeling his heart beat even faster and his palms grow sweaty. He swallowed and after a few false starts finally managed to say, while avoiding eye contact, "I have, at times, occasionally had the urge to sometimes…participate in a random act of physical contact….And I assume that how I have felt would be similar to what you experienced when you were my girlfriend."

Amy's mouth fell open, and Sheldon shuffled uncomfortably.

After several moments of uncomfortable silence, he spoke again. "As it appears that this discussion has completed its course, I will be going to bed. I have yet to go to sleep tonight and it will shortly be morning."

He turned around and was about to close the door when Amy spoke again. "Sheldon, wait."

He closed his eyes and then opened them, his exhaustion becoming more prominent with each passing second. After several moments he turned around.

Amy's eyes were wide, and her breathing was quick.

"I have a request…If we can't be friends then I would like to ask something else of you."

Sheldon nodded at her to continue.

"Kiss me."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. You guys are seriously the best. :)**


	23. Crossroads

**A/N: Thank you guys so so so much for the overwhelming response! :) And to the anon called Me, you don't like fanfiction? *Homer Simpson Whisper* You do know this is fanfiction dot net right? ;)**

* * *

Amy held her breath, heart hammering in her chest. She had taken a risk, and a rather large one. She hadn't been able to help herself as she had been floored by Sheldon's admission that he had been struggling with desires for physical contact. It flew in the face of everything she thought she knew about him.

As the seconds ticked by, she watched him, waiting for his response. He looked much like the proverbial deer in the headlights. His eyes were wide, red rimmed and bloodshot; his mouth slightly open in shock; his hair standing up all over the place rather than smoothly combed to the side; his breathing erratic and fast. With each passing moment, Amy began to reconsider the wisdom behind her request. She watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed; watched his eyes frantically move from her mouth to her eyes to the dark hallway and back as she wondered, yet again, what was going on in his mind.

* * *

Sheldon's mind was in a tailspin. He was exhausted. A part of him desperately wanted to lean down and kiss Amy, but another, more logical, part of his brain pleaded with him not to give in. The result was a veritable cacophony of noise inside his head, with his sleep deprivation making it all but impossible to make sense of anything.

So he did the only thing he could do: he shut the door. As the sound of the slam echoed in his mind, he stared at the door, still unable to think. Then, as if in a daze, he turned around, walked to his bed, curled up in the fetal position, pulled the covers over his head, and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

Amy stared at the door with her mouth open in shock. She had been shocked many times in the past hour, but this was by far the greatest. It was almost palpable, hitting her like a wave, causing a rush of adrenaline that sent her heart beating even faster. She held up a hand in the dark and saw that it was shaking.

She limply set her hand back in her lap and looked at the door again, feeling the first stirrings of rejection and humiliation tingling in the back of her mind. She had put herself out there and he had wholly rejected her request. Perhaps there really was no hope.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat and slowly wheeled herself back into her bedroom. When she was back in bed, rather than fall asleep, she simply lay on her back and stared at the ceiling, reliving the conversation. It had been the most honest conversation she had had with Sheldon, possibly ever, and yet it had left her feeling even more hopeless about their prospects of a reunion. It would seem that her actions had caused Sheldon more pain than she had thought possible.

Amy waited for tears to start flowing, but they never did. Instead she simply stared at the ceiling dry-eyed, feeling hollow and sad. Perhaps she had cried too much over Sheldon already. Perhaps the brain kept track of the number of tears a person wept and cut them off when the maximum allowed number of tears had been shed over a single issue.

Or perhaps she was simply still in shock.

She glanced at the clock and wondered if perhaps she should call Penny. Her bestie had helped her through those first (ok, all) months after her and Sheldon's initial breakup, after all. Penny had proven herself to be an invaluable source of comfort during that dark period.

But Amy found herself without the desire to make the call. Somehow she would rather keep this humiliation to herself. She didn't want to admit to Penny that she had been weak, that she had fallen for Sheldon again.

A lone tear trailed its way down Amy's cheek, and she sniffed as her sinuses were suddenly blocked. She had the urge to curl up in the fetal position, but couldn't due to an inability to lie on her side without pain. Instead she grabbed her hair and pulled it, using her fingers as a comb, to cover her face, before placing one arm over her eyes and clenching a fistful of her nightgown with the other hand.

She stayed that way for so long without moving that she simply drifted back to sleep.

* * *

_Sheldon sat on a bench, staring down at the Nobel Prize in his hands. He frowned, confused about why the sight didn't bring him the happiness he expected. Instead, he felt a strong urge to set it down and walk away._

_He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, someone sit down beside him and looked over. He blinked for a moment and then frowned in confusion._

_"__Dad?"_

_The elder George Cooper didn't look like the man who had died several years earlier, but rather like the pictures Sheldon had seen a long time ago of his parents at their wedding. Sheldon blinked as he realized that this young George Cooper looked very similar to Sheldon himself. He was tall, thin, with blue eyes._

_"__Hello, son."_

_"__Dad…what are you doing here?"_

_"__You tell me. This is your dream after all." George winked at Sheldon in an easy manner Sheldon had never encountered in real life._

_"__I'm dreaming?"_

_"__Of course you are. I've been dead for years, and you haven't won a Nobel Prize."_

_Sheldon looked down, but the Nobel Prize was gone. "Huh. You're right." He frowned. "So what are you doing here?" He looked around, taking note of his surroundings for the first time. The room he was in seemed to go on indefinitely in each direction, as he could not see any of the four walls. He looked up and saw stars. Perhaps he was outside. He looked in front of him, and saw two large flat screen televisions, both playing something, but without sound. It reminded him of the televisions in electronics stores._

_He frowned as he realized what was playing on each screen. He looked back and forth between the screens and then at his father._

_"__What are these?"_

_George leaned back, putting one leg up on the other and his arms across the back of the bench, much like he had when he had watched football during Sheldon's youth. He pointed with one hand. _

_"__These are images of your life."_

_Sheldon looked carefully from one screen to the next._

_"__But they're different."_

_George nodded. "That's because the one that happens hasn't been determined yet."_

_Sheldon frowned. "What do you mean? You know I don't believe in all that predestined hooey."_

_George shrugged his shoulders. "Whether or not you believe in predestination isn't the issue here."_

_"__Then what is?"_

_George pointed at Sheldon. "The issue is you." Sheldon blinked in surprise as George pointed back at the screens. "Watch both screens and tell me what you see."_

_"__I see nothing because I can't watch both screens at once."_

_George raised his eyebrows. "Don't sass me, boy."_

_Sheldon hunched over, contrite. "Sorry." _

_He turned his attention to the screen on the left. He saw himself, but different. Sheldon squinted at the screen, even though it was at least three feet tall. He appeared older…much older. There were definite grays in his hair, and his face was covered in wrinkles. He appeared to be in his office at the University, staring at his whiteboard. The elder Sheldon didn't seem to hear the voices that were just outside his office, but present day Sheldon did. He frowned. It sounded like Raj, Howard, and Leonard. _

_"__Dude, I'm telling you, don't bother," said Raj._

_"__Yeah," said Howard. "I don't know why you're even trying. It's been years since he's been our friend, if you could ever call him that."_

_Sheldon heard what sounded like a sigh. "Yeah…I know…but Penny insisted I ask. I've told her over and over to just give up, that he's never going to come back around, even without Amy there, but she won't listen. I guess thirty-five years isn't long enough for her."_

_There was a knock on the door of the office and his elder self sighed, exasperated, and yelled "What?"_

_The door opened and Leonard, looking much older, peaked his head around. "Hey, Sheldon."_

_"__What have I told you about how to address me?" the elder Sheldon barked._

_Leonard rolled his eyes. "Fine…hello Dr. Cooper." Leonard came fully inside the room, although apparently Raj and Howard had decided to remain outside. Leonard cleared his throat. "So…um…Penny and I wondered if you would like to join us for Thanksgiving this year."_

_The elder Sheldon turned back around and looked at his whiteboard. "No. I have no time for nonsensical holidays that celebrate a sham, and frankly I'm surprised the Native Americans in this country haven't put a stop to it yet."_

_Leonard rolled his eyes again. "Sheldon-" the elder Sheldon whipped his head around and glared. "Fine!" Leonard said, clearly getting exasperated, "Dr. Cooper, I've told you before that it's not a nonsensical holiday. It's about giving thanks for the things we're thankful for."_

_The elder Sheldon snorted. "What have I to be thankful for?"_

_"__Oh…I don't know. How about a successful life? Three Nobel Prizes? People who still care enough about you that after thirty-five years they're still trying to get you to socialize?"_

_The elder Sheldon turned around to face Leonard. "And why should I be thankful for any of that. I have worked hard and have merely been given my due."_

_"__How can you be this callus?" Leonard said. _

_"__And how can you be surprised by my behavior. If you have indeed quote, unquote cared for me for over thirty-five years, then my behavior should hardly be surprising to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to be doing. I don't have time to listen to you prattle on about holiday dinners I have no interest in eating."_

_The elder Sheldon turned back around and Leonard sighed, walking out the door._

_"__I told you that you were wasting your time," Howard said, from outside the door._

_The screen then focused on the elder Sheldon as he did nothing more than stare at the equations on his white board._

_Sheldon looked over at George, feeling uneasy about the scene he had just witnessed. George merely pointed at the screen on the right. Sheldon turned to look at it, seeing the elder version of himself again. In fact, if he had to guess, he'd say that he was the same age as in the previous elder Sheldon had been._

_He was walking down the stairs of an expensive looking home. Sheldon could hear the sounds of laughter and general merriment coming from somewhere. Elder Sheldon walked through a large living room, in which there were several small children jumping from various pieces of furniture to cushions strewn all around the room._

_"__Paw Paw!" A tiny one, likely no more than three, yelled. "You're walking in the lava!"_

_Elder Sheldon looked at the tiny child for a moment before spryly hopping onto a cushion several inches to his left. He made a show of hopping from foot to foot. "Oh dear. It would appear that my feet were nearly burned. Thank you for alerting me to the danger that is my living room Amelia."_

_The little girl giggled. "Paw Paw, you talk funny."_

_Suddenly a female voice yelled from the other room. "Sheldon! I need you to help me remove this turkey. You were right. Now that the pan is hot, I can't get a good enough grip."_

_The elder Sheldon looked at all the other children in the room. "Perhaps you could help an elderly gentleman find his way out of this lava-soaked wasteland." The only response he received was a chorus of giggles. _

_"__Sheldon!" the voice yelled again._

_"__Meemaw! Paw Paw is stuck in the lava," one of the other children, approximately five year old, shouted while the other children giggled._

_Suddenly, an elder Amy appeared. Sheldon was shocked that she looked remarkably unchanged, excepting that her hair was shoulder length and had a salt-and-pepper look to it. She looked down at the five year old, hands on her hips. "And just how am I going to get this turkey out of the oven when your Paw Paw is stuck in lava?"_

_The three year old Amelia hopped from pillow to pillow on the floor. "Paw Paw, I'll show you!" she said enthusiastically. She reached up and put her tiny hand in elder Sheldon's and began hopping from cushion to cushion until they reached the edge of the room. There was a good two foot gap between the last pillow and the doorway. Amelia looked up at elder Sheldon. "Paw Paw, you have to jump, otherwise the lava will burn your feet."_

_Amy looked at Sheldon with raised eyebrows, as a younger woman, who looked remarkably similar Sheldon, excepting that she was female, walked up behind Amy. "Amelia, you can't ask your grandfather to jump two feet. He's too old."_

_Elder Sheldon crossed his arms and frowned. "Now just a moment there, Marie. I may be over sixty-five, but I'm not dead yet."_

_Amy gave elder Sheldon a look. "You can't seriously be considering jumping two feet after you twisted your ankle walking down the stairs not three months ago."_

_Elder Sheldon raised his eyebrows. "Yes, I can."_

_Amy sighed and crossed her arms. "Stubborn as ever."_

_Elder Sheldon looked down at Amelia, who was looking at him with wide eyes. "I need you to count for me, so I know when the optimal time to leap is."_

_Amelia nodded enthusiastically. "One." Elder Sheldon bent his knees. "Two." Elder Sheldon swung his arms back as Amy rolled her eyes. "Three!" Elder Sheldon jumped, landing next to Amy wincing, while the children in the room all clapped and shouted "Yay, Paw Paw!"_

_Amy gave elder Sheldon a wry look. "And I suppose you're going to claim that you didn't just hurt yourself."_

_Elder Sheldon cleared his throat and stood up tall. "Of course I didn't."_

_Amy simply responded with "Mmm" and then turned around and walked into the kitchen. Elder Sheldon winced with every step as he followed Amy into the kitchen, leaving the sounds of playing children behind him._

_Sheldon looked over at George, confused. "What are these two screens?"_

_George gave Sheldon a serious look. "These two screens represent two different possibilities for your future."_

_Sheldon frowned, looking from the elder Sheldon who was still staring at his white board, alone in his office, to the elder Sheldon who was currently removing a turkey from the oven. He looked back at George. "But which one is the most likely?"_

_George returned his arm to the back of the bench. "Either scenario is equally likely at this juncture."_

_Sheldon frowned. "How is that possible? The two scenarios are completely different, in almost every possible way."_

_George pointed at Sheldon's chest. "That is because you are at a crossroads and you need to make a decision."_

_Sheldon swallowed, and even though he suspected he knew the answer, he asked, "What decision do I have to make?"_

_But George didn't answer him immediately. Instead he posed another question. "Why do you think that I always made you go hunting with me? Or watch football?"_

_Sheldon blinked at his father. "I assumed it was because you were didn't like me as I was and were trying to make me more like you."_

_George got a sad look in his eyes. "Wrong."_

_Sheldon's eyebrows went up. "Well, then why did you?"_

_Again, George simply posed another question. "Do you know that it was me who taught your mother how to handle you?"_

_Sheldon simply stared at George. "No."_

_George nodded. "Yes. You were so stubborn, even as a toddler…_especially_ as a toddler, and I'd come home from work and find her near to tears trying to deal with you. It took nearly six years of telling than woman 'Mary, you gotta take your time with Sheldon,' before she finally learned what was what."_

_Sheldon thought for a moment, suddenly recalling long forgotten memories of his father coaxing him to put away his book, to agree to try a new food, and, shockingly, to walk through the door at Kindergarten. These memories didn't seem to jive with the memories Sheldon had of his father later in his life._

_George continued talking. "I didn't make you watch football to torture you, or to change who you were. I didn't take you hunting because I didn't like you studying science. Who do you think paid for you to go to college at fourteen?"_

_Sheldon blinked. "I had scholarships."_

_George nodded. "Yeah, but they didn't cover the cost of all those books you needed. Who do you think paid for all that? Who do you think convinced your mother to let you graduate from high school at thirteen?"_

_Sheldon shook his head. "I don't understand what any of this has to do with those two screens."_

_George placed a hand on Sheldon's shoulder. "Son, I simply wanted you to socialize. I wanted you to succeed in life. You have always thought you were so high and mighty it was no wonder the neighborhood kids didn't like you." Sheldon pressed his lips together and frowned. "You can't go through life without people. Science can't give you a fulfilling life." George pointed to the screen on the left. "This is the life you'll get if you continue to shut out everyone. You'll be successful, sure, but you'll also be a bitter old man without a single person in his life." George pointed to the screen on the right. "This is the life you'll get if you let yourself love. You'll be happy, with a family."_

_Sheldon looked at George. "Will I also be successful?"_

_George pressed his lips together, much like Sheldon typically does when he's irritated, and gestured to the screen. "You tell me."_

_Sheldon looked at the screen on the right. It appeared that the entire family, including what looked like the families of Howard and Bernadette, Leonard and Penny, and Raj and the woman Sheldon assumed to be his wife, were all seated around an enormous table, laughing and talking. Sheldon squinted at the wall behind his elder self. There appeared to be three Nobel Prizes hanging in special frames behind him._

_He looked at George. "But what if I can't?"_

_He meant to ask, what if he couldn't be that Sheldon, but couldn't get the entire sentence out. In truth, he currently identified with the left elder Sheldon. Left elder Sheldon was the easiest option._

_Even though he hadn't said it out loud, George responded with, "When have you ever taken the easiest option? Where is the boy so determined to give the neighborhood free electricity that he illegally obtained Yellow Cake radium? The boy so determined to build his own CAT scanner that he accidentally killed his sister's pet?"_

_Sheldon looked down at his lap, suddenly feeling ashamed. He swallowed. "I don't know if I can do it, Dad."_

_"__What's so hard about a kiss?" George responded._

_Sheldon looked up. "But what if it's too late? What if the only option left is the left screen?"_

_"__If that were true, then would you really be having this dream?"_

Sheldon's eyes snapped open. He took a moment to get his bearings, the vestiges of his dream still floating around in his mind. He swallowed, his throat feeling thick. His eyes were sore and he had a crick in his neck from sleeping on his side. He slowly sat up, stretching out his legs, which were still drawn up to his chest. He felt awful, both physically and emotionally.

He looked at the clock and realized he had slept half the day away. He thought about his dream and what it meant, and pondered his options.

Amy had asked him to kiss her and, in his panic, he had slammed the door in her face. His heart started beating faster as he thought about kissing her. What if she rejected him just as he had rejected her earlier?

The image of the left elder Sheldon came into his mind, making him cringe, and giving him a new determination. He threw the covers off and walked towards Amy's room. He knocked timidly three times, but received no answer.

He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, easing the door open slightly and peaking his head through.

Amy appeared to be asleep. Sheldon walked cautiously into the room, going to stand beside her bed. She didn't have her glasses on and her hair covered most of her face. Her hands were on either side of her, grasping tightly to the sheets, and she appeared to have a slight frown on her face.

He swallowed and looked around, trying to decide how to wake her up, heart hammering in his chest. His eyes fell to her hair-covered face as her chest rose and fell. He gingerly sat down on the edge of the bed, now trying _not_ to wake her, and brought a hand to lightly brush the hair from her face. He had never given particular thought to Amy's looks before, as his reason for being her friend and boyfriend had never included her looks. But as he stared, he discovered that he liked the way she looked. Since she was sleeping, he took the opportunity to do what he had wanted to do for weeks and ran a hand through her hair. It was almost as soft dry as all the times he had felt it wet.

Amy suddenly took a deep breath and licked her lips, causing Sheldon to freeze. He looked at her now moist lips and remembered his reason for entering the room in the first place. As he was wondering how best to approach the situation, Amy's eyes suddenly opened. She looked confused when she looked at him.

"Sheldon?"

Sheldon swallowed hard. "Yes."

Amy blinked at him. "Am I dreaming?"

Sheldon shook his head. "No."

Amy stared, still looking confused. "What are you doing?"

Now was decision time. Sheldon felt his heartbeat in his eardrums and fingertips, a slight fluttering in his stomach, and he nearly changed his mind. But then the now hazy memory of the left screen elder Sheldon popped into his mind and he regained his determination.

He swallowed, nervously licked his lips, and then leaned forward slowly and pressed his lips to Amy's.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so very much for reading. We're perilously close to the end.**


	24. Dreams Come True

**A/N: Thank you so very much for the reviews. Please enjoy.**

* * *

Amy's eyes fluttered closed of their own accord. Sheldon was kissing her. She wasn't dreaming. Sheldon was kissing her. Her only other memory of kissing him was the time he gave her that tiara, but it had been such a fleeting kiss that she hadn't had anything to reflect upon afterwards. And her first kiss with Sheldon had been lost in the void of drunkenness. But Sheldon was kissing her now. And she wasn't dreaming. His lips were pressed against hers, and they were warm. And she wasn't dreaming. This was real. Sheldon was kissing her.

When he pulled away, Amy couldn't be sure if their kiss had lasted five seconds or five minutes. He sat straight-backed on the edge of her bed, with his hands folded in his lap, his eyes wide and trained on her. Amy couldn't speak; didn't even know what she would say if she could. There were too many questions swirling in her mind.

"I'm sorry," Sheldon said, his brow knit together in worry.

Sorry for what? For kissing her? For refusing to kiss her earlier? For how he had treated her? For refusing to move forward last May? Amy opened her mouth to try to ask these questions, but instead what came out was a sob. She placed a hand up to her mouth in shock when another sob found its way out. She placed her other hand on top of the first and squeezed her eyes shut. Before she knew what was happening, she was sobbing, feeling a mixture of elation and sadness. She covered her entire face with her hands and continued sobbing.

She expected Sheldon to panic and try to stop her crying, or to run out of the room, or to simply ask her why she was crying, but he did none of those things. Instead, after some hesitation, he surprised her, yet again, by slowly and gingerly scooting closer and then wrapping both of his arms loosely around her, awkwardly patting her on the back. Amy pressed her face against his chest, grabbing his shirt with both hands, and continued crying. She felt him freeze for several moments and could hear his heart racing in her ear, but then he took a deep breath and relaxed ever so slightly.

They remained like that for some time before Sheldon spoke.

"Amy?"

Amy pulled away slightly so that she could look up, keeping both hands gripping his shirt tightly. Even though he was so close, without her glasses on his features took on a hazy, dream-like quality. "Yes?" she said, sniffing.

She saw him swallow. "Why are you crying?" he asked.

"Because I'm happy," she responded.

He looked down at her a moment before saying, "You don't look happy. You look sad."

Amy shook her head. "No, I'm definitely happy."

She watched him furrow his brow. "Why are you happy?"

Amy shook her head slowly. "I don't think I can explain it."

Sheldon blinked at her for a moment before he said, "Is it because I kissed you?"

Amy pushed herself away from him a bit more, causing him to drop his arms from around her. She reached over and grabbed her glasses, pressing them on her face, buying herself some time to think.

"Yes…that's part of it." She frowned suddenly confused. "What made you change your mind?"

Sheldon looked down at his hands, fidgeting. "I had a dream."

Amy waited for him to elaborate, but when he didn't she asked, "What happened in the dream?"

Sheldon took a deep breath. "My father came and showed me two possible courses my life could take. I didn't want to become a bitter old man, so I chose the screen on the right."

"The screen on the right?"

Sheldon nodded still looking at his hands. "Yes. My options were presented in the form of two television screens. On the left was a Sheldon who had great success, but was bitter and alone. On the right was a Sheldon who had great success but also…" He paused, biting his lips, looking unsure.

Amy held her breath, praying he would continue.

He looked up at her then. "But also had a family and friends."

Amy's heart skipped a beat at the word "family". She swallowed, choosing her next words carefully. "When you say family…" She trailed off at the intense look he gave her.

"I mean, that you and I were married with children and grandchildren."

Amy felt a little dizzy all of a sudden. "Married?" she squeaked.

Sheldon looked back at his hands. "That is…assuming that the possibility still exists…in the future."

Amy nodded quickly. "Yes. It exists. It's still a possibility," she said frantically, wondering again if she was still dreaming.

Sheldon looked up again, a small smile on his face. "Then I haven't ruined everything?"

Amy shook her head and said quickly, "No. Nothing is ruined." She waited for him to continue, desperately wanting him to say more.

"Then you can forgive me?"

Amy almost felt as if her neck would snap, so vehemently was she nodding. "I forgive you. For everything you've ever done." She leaned forward and grabbed his shirt with both fists again, looking up at him. "Can you forgive me as well? I'm so sorry I ever dated Stuart. I'm sorry I refused to speak with you after I broke up with you. I'm sorry I broke up with you."

Sheldon smiled and nodded.

In her excitement, Amy suddenly leaned up and pressed her lips to Sheldon's, still holding his shirt in her fists, cursing her casted leg for preventing her from getting closer. When she finally pulled away, she pressed her forehead against his chest. Sheldon brought his arms up to give her another timid hug. Amy relaxed her grip on his shirt and wrapped both hands around him, squeezing as tightly as she could.

"Amy?"

"Yes?" she said into his chest.

"I missed you."

Amy smiled and attempted to snuggle closer. "I've missed you so much."

* * *

When it finally occurred to Sheldon that he and Amy were snuggling and "making out" on Amy's bed, he requested that they relocate themselves to somewhere less intimate. Amy suggested they go sit on the couch in the living room. He agreed and was about to help her into her wheelchair when Amy suggested that she lean against him and hop into the living room. In truth, she simply wasn't ready to let go of him. Apparently Sheldon wasn't ready to let go of her either, because he smiled and quickly agreed.

After Amy was seated on the couch, Sheldon went into the kitchen to get them cereal. It was now well past lunchtime, but, as nothing was open on Christmas, they were going to be left spending the day eating cereal and lunch meat sandwiches. This was perfectly fine with Amy, who felt at this juncture that she would be content to continue sitting alone with Sheldon for the rest of her life.

They ate their cereal in silence, merely exchanging smiles in between bites. Sheldon seemed just as intent as Amy on eating as fast as possible so that they could continue to "reacquaint" themselves, since he shoveled spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. After "breakfast" they spent the rest of the afternoon alternately kissing and cuddling. They also took plenty of time to fill each other in on everything they had not had the time or inclination to share with the other before now, be it as important as Sheldon's research, or as trivial as why Amy had decided to switch to a different brand of toothpaste several months ago.

Possibly the most shocking thing about the entire day was Sheldon's keen interest in kissing. Amy vaguely recalled his once saying he knew everything there was to know about kissing, but apparently he had decided he didn't. Of course, being that this was Sheldon, there was very little, or in his case "no", tongue involved, but he only weakly protested when Amy boldly decided to give frenching a whirl. And every time Amy would start to pull away to catch her breath, Sheldon would lean forward, trying to prolong the kiss for one micro-second longer. Amy thanked her lucky stars that she had never managed to kiss Stuart, because the mere thought that on her death bed she will be able to say that the only man she ever kissed was Sheldon Cooper made her feel giddy with delight.

When Amy happened to glance at the clock, having no idea how long they had been sitting there, and saw that it was two o'clock in the morning, she turned to Sheldon, who was simply staring at her with a smile on his face.

"We had probably better go to sleep now. You have to work in the morning."

Sheldon swallowed and nodded, not looking happy. "Yes. You're right." He helped her back to her bedroom, and into bed. As he turned to leave, Amy grabbed his hand, and pulled him down for a goodnight kiss. He lingered for a moment and when he straightened up, he smiled and then walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

* * *

_Four Weeks Later_

Sheldon had been dreading this moment for nearly four weeks. In a few short hours Amy would be returning to Pasadena, leaving him behind in Switzerland for at least another three months.

The past month had been the best month of Sheldon's life. He counted himself the fool (privately to himself, of course) for ever having allowed his quest for a Nobel Prize to interfere with his relationship with Amy.

Much to his delight, he and Amy had fallen easily back into the camaraderie of their earlier days. In fact, he would almost go so far as to say that they had achieved an even deeper level of comfort with one another, for never before had he had the inclination or desire to share _all _of his thoughts and feelings with Amy. Though they had shared much prior to their breakup, Sheldon had continually kept his _feelings_ about Amy to himself. He had merely assumed that she knew how he felt. After further discussing with Amy the impetus for their breaking up, however, Sheldon realized that had he not kept his feelings to himself (and _from_ himself) then she might not have felt the need to break up with him in the first place. Of course, feelings still fell under the heading of "hippy dippy" things in his mind, but if the choice was between acting a little hippy dippy or losing Amy, then Sheldon would gladly swallow his pride and start spouting sonnets…figuratively speaking that is.

Every once in a while, Sheldon would think about the life made visible to him in the right screen in his dream. He would see himself playing "lava" with the young children and feel the corners of his mouth turn up at the thought of fictional little Amelia. The next time he had telephoned his mother, he had asked her some questions about his father. Apparently his subconscious had been right. George, Sr. had indeed been the one to convince Mary to let Sheldon go to college; had indeed been the one better at coaxing Sheldon to do things as a toddler and young child. In truth, this new information caused Sheldon to view the memory of his now deceased father in a completely different light.

Naturally his mother had not been happy at his getting back together with Amy. Her first question had been to ask if Sheldon and Amy had sinned. Since Sheldon was almost positive that kissing and occasionally falling asleep together didn't fall under that heading, he truthfully answered no. Mary had then proceeded to let Sheldon know that under no circumstances was he to go marrying Amy and having babies with her. Sheldon had merely rolled his eyes.

His and Amy's one and only disagreement during the past month had been the matter of the Relationship Agreement. Naturally, Sheldon wished to reinstate it, with a few provisional changes. Amy, however, had been surprisingly opposed, stating that she should never have agreed to sign the document in the first place. Sheldon had pointed out that the Relationship Agreement merely helped to guide their relationship and to provide stability, while Amy had in turn said that it had only served to constrict their relationship and had not provided any stability, as she had easily been able to break the contract when she broke up with him. Sheldon had tried to introduce the idea of it being a permanent binding document, with no chance for breaking it written into it, but Amy had still refused. Sheldon had been quite upset and worried, if truth be told, but when Amy had wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her face into his neck saying that she was never going to leave him again, he couldn't help but feel somewhat mollified.

Sheldon looked at his watch now and, noting the time, walked towards Amy's room. He found her standing by the window, having had her cast removed three days ago. He walked up behind her and place a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"Amy? It's time to go," he said sadly.

Without turning around, Amy said quietly, "It really is beautiful here, isn't it?"

When she turned around, Sheldon saw tears pooled in her eyes. He didn't know what to say, since he could not tell her that she didn't have to go. She walked past him and grabbed her suitcase with one hand. She held out her other hand, looking expectantly at Sheldon. He paused, wondering if he should remark on her tears, before simply walking over and grabbing her hand.

They walked, when space allowed, hand in hand to tram stop, which then took them to the train station. Amy insisted that Sheldon didn't have to go with her to the airport, as he would be unable to do more than see her inside before she would have to go through security without him, but he in turn insisted that he did have to go, not willing to say goodbye a moment sooner than he had to. During the tram ride, they spoke for the umpteenth time of their plans for keeping in contact. Amy had pointed out that they would still be able to Skype, so long as they planned carefully and allowed for some late nights or early mornings, as the case may be, and had even said that she had missed their skyping session and would be looking forward to them. Sheldon had reluctantly agreed that it would be nice, while privately thinking that seeing Amy through a computer screen would not be quite the same as seeing her in person. But what could be done? They both had jobs.

After getting to the airport and checking in her bag, Amy turned to Sheldon. He hated goodbyes and seriously considered simply turning around without saying anything. But his desire to prolong the moment, despite previous prejudices against goodbyes, won out and, instead, he awkwardly wrapped his arms around Amy in a hug, which was the only form of physical affection, aside from hand holding, that he was willing to perform in public. And even that was pushing it.

Amy squeezed him so tightly he couldn't take a proper breath and held him that way for a long time. Then, without another word, she turned around quickly and walked towards the security gate. Sheldon watched, feeling a constricting in his chest, as she made it through security, and waving when she gave him one last look before turning the corner out of his line of sight.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Epilogue to follow shortly.**

**Amy's Playlist: S'Wonderful by Diana Krall**


	25. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Amy stood up on her tip toes, trying to see over the crowd of people, making Penny chuckle with her enthusiasm.

"Sweetie, his plane _just_ landed. It's going to be awhile."

Amy looked over at Penny. "But he could be the first off the plane. I want to make sure I don't miss him." She turned back to face the exit and again stood on her tip toes.

Penny couldn't help but smile at Amy's enthusiasm. It had been nice to see her enthusiastic about, well, anything since her return from Switzerland. Penny had almost died of shock when Amy had called to tell her that she and Sheldon were back together again. Truth be told, she had been a little worried about the situation, and whether or not the two of them had entered into some sort of weird co-dependency while Amy was in Switzerland. But as soon as she had seen Amy after the first time Sheldon had Skyped her, Penny had known there was nothing to worry about. She had never seen Amy look so happy…and that included all the times she had seen Amy happy _before_ she had broken up with Sheldon to begin with.

Penny smiled at Amy now, looking like an excited little girl, all but hopping up and down as she craned her neck in the hopes of seeing her boyfriend.

When Sheldon did finally appear, turning his head back and forth in search of his girlfriend, Amy made a strange noise between a squeal and a gasp and walked quickly over. Penny chuckled when Amy all but launched herself at Sheldon, reminding Penny of the time he had given her that tiara. Deciding to give the two a moment, Penny walked slowly over to them.

When she saw the look passing between them, Penny suddenly felt like she and every other person in this airport were intruders.

"Jeez you two," she said with a wink at Amy. "Get a room."

Sheldon looked over at her, frowning in what looked like equal parts annoyance and confusion. "That statement doesn't even make sense. Amy and I are not engaging in any form of physical contact, excepting our current hand holding, which would indicate that we would need a room in which to engage in coitus."

Penny chuckled, surprised Sheldon even got the reference. "Yeah, well, all I have to say is it's a good thing Amy's wearing eyeglasses. You know…for protection." At Sheldon's continued look of confusion, Penny simply patted his arm, smiled, and said, "Welcome home, Sweetie."

* * *

"Raj, would you just leave the crepe paper alone?" Howard said. "They're going to be back any minute. Amy texted Bernie ten minutes ago that they were five minutes away."

Bernadette put a hand on Howard's arm. "Oh just let him fuss. You know what a perfectionist he is when he plans a party."

Howard nodded but said under his breath, "You'd think a man could just let crinkled crepe paper lie…"

Bernadette heard a noise and shushed the three men in the room. "I hear something. Everyone get in place!"

She, Howard, Raj, and Leonard all went to stand in front of the door as the handle jingled. When the door opened, they shouted "Surprise!" causing Sheldon to jump.

Everyone started laughing as Sheldon merely crossed his arms and said, "Oh yes…laugh it up. Giving a man a fright induced heart attack is hysterical."

Bernadette watched as Amy put her arm through one of Sheldon's crossed ones and looked up at him. "Don't be such a party pooper. They just wanted to welcome you back." He looked down at her and smiled before uncrossing his arms and turning to the group to say, "My apologies. Thank you for the welcome home."

Howard leaned over and whispered in Bernadette's ear. "What sort of voodoo has Amy worked on him and can she teach it to me?"

Bernadette gave Howard a wry look. "Be nice."

Penny walked to join Howard and Bernadette as Sheldon and Amy jointly took his suitcase into his room.

"Boy," noted Bernadette, "Those two are certainly joined at the hip."

Penny snorted. "You have no idea. You should have seen the looks they kept giving each other."

Bernadette chuckled. "That bad?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "Geez. If eyeballs could have babies, they'd be having triplets."

Bernadette laughed and looked back at the couple as they walked back out into the living room. She was happy to see Amy so happy. She thought back to all those months of being one of two shoulders for Amy to cry on; thought of the entire Stuart debacle. Thank goodness she had intervened when she had.

* * *

Leonard wouldn't have believed the change in Sheldon if he didn't have the proof right in front of him. He actually looked like he was enjoying himself.

Leonard thought back to the last time he had seen Sheldon, as he had dropped him off at the airport. He had really wondered if Sheldon would ever be the same. And he had been right. Sheldon definitely wasn't the same. Luckily, however, Sheldon had changed for the better.

Penny came up to Leonard and whispered in his ear as Sheldon and Amy pressed their heads close together and began talking in low voices about who knew what. "Can you believe the change in Sheldon?"

Leonard shook his head. "No." He looked over at Penny. "But I'm happy he's happy." Penny nodded.

"Me too." She paused, still looking at the pair as they laughed and smiled at each other. "I didn't think it was possible for them to get back together, to be honest. I thought Sheldon was broken."

Leonard thought for a moment before he said, "He was." He looked at Penny and smiled. "But I guess getting the right girl in the end makes all the difference."

Penny smiled back and the kissed him quickly on the mouth.

* * *

Though Sheldon was somewhat grateful to have friends remaining to welcome him home after his nearly six month stint in Switzerland, he was also happy to see the last person leave. Even Leonard left, after giving Sheldon a strange look, saying that he was going to be staying with Penny for the night. This meant that as the door closed, Sheldon found himself alone with Amy.

He looked at her, feeling a strange shyness coming over him. It had been nearly three months since he had been in her presence after all.

Amy smiled at him. "I'm happy you're back."

He smiled back at her. "I'm happy to be back."

Amy looped her arm through his and laid her head against his shoulder. "Were you able to finish your research on time?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yes. Now all that's left is for the experimental physicists to prove that I'm right."

"How long with that take?"

"Knowing them? Far too long."

Amy merely nodded. They remained silent for several minutes, Amy with her head resting on his shoulder. Sheldon didn't know what to say. They had stayed in close contact via Skype and email, so they were both caught up on the daily happenings of the other's life. And he still was not entirely comfortable discussing hippy dippy feelings, even if he had been feeling a few.

"Sheldon?" Amy said, turning her head upwards to look at him.

He looked down, a funny, nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Yes."

"I missed you."

The corners of Sheldon's mouth curved upwards. "I missed you too."

Amy smiled and spoke again. "I mean…I know that we spoke nearly every day, but…it's not the same as being in your presence."

Sheldon nodded. "Agreed."

Amy bit her lip and frowned. "Do you know what day it is?"

"I have just traveled halfway around the world. My concept of days and times are entirely skewed," he responded, just then noticing how tired he was.

Amy swallowed. "It's one year since the day after Howard left for space."

Sheldon swallowed as he looked down at Amy. It was exactly a year since they had first broken up. And what a year it had been; simultaneously the worst and the best year of his life.

Amy suddenly leaned forward and kissed Sheldon, catching him off guard. It was their first kiss since his return, as they had been surrounded by people from the moment he had stepped off the plane.

When she pulled back from him, Amy gave him a serious look. "Let's never repeat it."

Sheldon nodded, also serious. "Agreed."

Sheldon suddenly yawned, his exhaustion hitting him in full force. Amy let go of him and stood up. Sheldon looked at her, confused. "Where are you going?"

"You need your sleep," she responded, picking up her purse and putting it on over her head. "You've had a long journey."

Sheldon stood up. "I don't want you to go."

Amy stopped, a hand on the doorknob, as Sheldon walked quickly over to her. When he reached her, she reached a hand up to pull his head down for another kiss.

When she pulled away, she looked him in the eyes and said, "I'll be waiting by my phone for you to call when you wake up."

Sheldon grabbed her hand and looked at her seriously. "Right when I wake up?"

Amy nodded.

"Even if I wake up at four o'clock in the morning?"

"I'm sleeping with it under my pillow." She smiled at him again, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she walked away, slowly extracting her hand from Sheldon's. He looked out the door and watched her go down the stairs. After she disappeared from view, Sheldon went to the bathroom to prepare for bed, now nearly dizzy with exhaustion.

As he fell into bed, he couldn't help but think that it had definitely been a long, exhausting year. And it was one that he would never again repeat.

* * *

**A/N: You have my undying gratitude for being the best audience a writer could hope for. Thank you so much for taking this journey with me. Can you believe this started as a one shot? As for them being separated for three months...well, I sort of wrote myself into a corner with that one, didn't I? Originally I had a different idea for the ending (and the epilogue actually), but since I let my stories grow organically, it ended up not fitting. But I'm happier with this version anyway. So once again, thank you so much and say it with me: SHAMY FOR LIFE!**


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